


Blackened Skies

by CSpratt, MrCynical



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Attempted Murder, Character Death, Comedy, Digital Art, Ensemble Cast, Execution, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Franchise Wide Spoilers, It's Danganronpa afterall, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Murder, Murder Mystery, New setting and cases, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scrum Debate, like a lot of it, lots of character interactions, mostly sprite edits but still
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2020-12-23 23:14:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 397,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21089402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSpratt/pseuds/CSpratt, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrCynical/pseuds/MrCynical
Summary: "Yes indeed! Each and every one of you are passengers aboard my pride and joy, the Despair of the Seas! It's a very exclusive honor to get aboard, you know!" Monokuma boasted.Kaito scowled at the bear, crossing his arms. "Yeah, right. How the hell is anything involving you an honor?""Why, because in order to get invited onto this ship, each and every one of you had to murder someone!"***Kaede Akamatsu was executed, and then she woke up. Trapped in the middle of the ocean and surrounded by murderers, friends and strangers alike, the Ultimate Pianist once again finds herself at the fickle mercy of Monokuma and his latest sadistic game: the blackened of killing games past must slay each other to survive. As the body count continues to climb and the line between friend and foe begins blurring beyond recognition, Kaede must search for the truth amidst an ocean of lies and blood.Join the Community Discord at: https://discord.gg/bc86GSENow with a TV Tropes page! https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/BlackenedSkiesKilling Game Progress: Chapter Two: Daily Life Part Six





	1. Prologue: Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, my good mate and co-writer CSpratt ended up introducing me back to Danganronpa back in February, and I've been a massive fan since. About a month and a half back, we ended up getting an idea: Hey, what if we took all 16(ish) of the Blackened thorughout the series and put them through a killing game of their own? Well, the answer ended up being this. With a completely new setting and new cases, this is absolutely a lofty project, but it's one we're both quite passionate about. It's my first time writing many of these characters, though, so please feel free to give suggestions! We're open to feedback. With that said, please enjoy!
> 
> Side note, we both played the official American release, so the characters are primarily based on that version and thus no honorifics or the like.

_ "Well… this is as far as it goes. _

_ I couldn't do it. I couldn't get to the _ ** _Mastermind…_ **

_ I'm sorry, everyone… _

_ I'm sorry, Rantaro. _

_ I'm sorry, Shuichi." _

***

Cold. Uncaring, unfeeling cold enveloped every fiber of her being, as if the girl were made entirely out of ice. It wasn't the natural cold of a chilly winter breeze; rather, it was like the very concept of heat no longer existed in her reality. An eternity passed without her notice, until one day, a realization occurred to her: why did she feel cold? _ How _could she feel cold? She was… the girl's brow furrowed. What was she, again? She knew something important happened, something she should know, yet her thoughts always seemed to circle back to a numb blankness in her mind. It was around this same time that she realized she could feel herself breathing, and soon after began to hear it as well. The air around her was stale, but it felt heavenly for reasons she couldn't quite recall. Slowly, she felt her eyes flittering open, the total blackness she hadn't realized was surrounding her brightening into a dark grey. Pale light peaked through a tiny vent far ahead of her and seemed to beckon her closer. Step by step, the light grew closer and larger, until it was just a few scant inches from her face. She reached out to it…

… and let out an undignified yelp as she suddenly stumbled forward and fell flat on her face. An angry stinging quickly replaced the numbing cold in her body with a pained groan. "Geez… real smooth, Kaede," The Ultimate Pianist grumbled to herself before she shook her head in a vain attempt to banish the pain. Her knees felt scraped as well, but that was far less distracting than the bump on her head her clumsiness had given her. Sighing, Kaede forced herself to her feet, blinking the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. She went stiff as it occurred to her that the room around her was decidedly unfamiliar. It was a spacious yet cozy area with rose colored walls and carpeting accented by rich wood finishes. Much of the room was occupied by a number of large circular tables with immaculate white cloths draped over them and candles burning softly in the center. She could tell even at a glance that it must have been for a pretty large gathering, each table set for four people. To her left was a grand double door with a set of ornate golden handles. Akamatsu frowned a little. A mansion, maybe? It wouldn't have been the first time she performed at one, but why would she fall asleep in the dining room?

Before she could continue puzzling out the strange situation she found herself in, a horrid banging rang out from behind her, half a shriek managing to escape her before she caught herself. She turned to the source of the noise with a growing sense of worry. Before her stood a trio of lockers, the one closest to the wall having its door swung wide open whilst the other two remained closed. It was dubious how long that would last, however, as the rightmost locker was visibly and violently shaking as the furious pounding continued and the poor metal screamed out in protest. A strange sense of deja vu washed over her for a moment, but it was cast aside just as quickly as it appeared. "H-hello?" She called out. To her surprise, the pounding stopped. 

"... Someone out there? Hey, let me the fuck outta here!" A gruff voice called out from the other side of the locker. Kaede raised an eyebrow. Pretty vulgar way to talk to someone you don't even know, but considering the circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to be all that offended. 

"A-alright, just a second!" She replied, approaching the container. The pianist pulled on the handle and it opened to reveal a rather tall man with a bright orange pompadour and snake-like eyes that snapped closed as the light of the room seemingly caught him off guard. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Just fuckin' peachy," The man grumbled back, rubbing his eyes. He stepped forward out of his steel prison, Kaede stepping back in turn. After a few moments, he finally seemed to adjust to the light, his orange irises glancing around the room as confusion dawned over his face. "... The hell…?"

Kaede frowned once more. "Guess that means you don't know where we are or why we're here either, huh?" She said dejectedly. The man, whom she could now see was adorned in a flowing black coat and a plain white tank top, met her gaze.

"Was kinda hopin' you might. I know I wasn't invited, at least."

"Not invited? What do you mean?"

He chuckled a bit as he crossed his arms and looked around the room. "Fancy place like this? Yeah, somehow I don't think they'd be interested in inviting over the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader," He replied dismissively. He glanced back to meet her gaze again. "Name's Mondo Owada, by the way. Nice to fuckin' meet ya."

Kaede's eyes lit up in surprise. "You're an ultimate too? That's great! I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist!" She cheerily replied. 

Mondo gave a firm nod in return before the biker moved to inspect one of the closer tables. "Piano, huh? Yeah, with an outfit like that, I guess I could see that. Don't know much about music, but that's kinda rad, I guess…” Mondo picked up a plate in his hand and rotated it around, examining it from all angles, “Jesus, look at all this. This plate probably costs more than my hog. Must've been a helluva party I crashed."

"Do you usually wake up in strangers' houses?" She questioned semi-seriously. A short laugh escaped him as he set the fancy dinnerware down on the table.

"Happens more often than you'd think. The gang tends to go all out when we decide to have some fun."

Kaede smirked a little, rolling her eyes. _ "He must be a real delinquent if he does this on the regular. Honestly, though, it also sounds kind of fun..." _She mused. Too bad the only times she ever actually ended up at a party were the ones she was commissioned to perform for. 

Before she could respond to Mondo’s statement, a metal creak interrupted their conversation, causing both Ultimates to turn back towards the lockers. There, they saw a bleary eyed girl slowly walking out of the final locker. Her light pink hair complimented her pale complexion, her head cocked to the side in clear uncertainty. Another step revealed a teal hoodie over a white dress shirt. 

"Oh, hello there. Are you okay?" The pianist asked. The girl blinked, a beat passing without a response. A small amount of sweat collected on Kaede’s brow. _ "... Did she not hear me? Would it be rude to say it again?" _

"... Yep, I heard you." The mystery girl finally replied. She walked closer to the two Ultimates, gripping a pair of backpack straps that Kaede hadn't noticed until then. "... You guys are really loud. It woke me up."

"Ah, sorry. We're just a little confused right now..." Kaede responded, scratching at the back of her head.

The girl lazily rubbed at her eyes. "... It's fine… I'm just a little sleepy. Probably should have woken up anyway..." She waved off, practically yawning out half of the sentence. Blinking a couple times, she met Kaede's gaze. "... You said you guys were Ultimates, right? Kaede and Mondo?” the mystery girl asked, to which Kaede responded by nodding, “...That’s good. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only Ultimate here. I’m Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer… nice to meet you." Chiaki greeted with a small smile. Her slothish demeanor and voice seemed to strike a chord somewhere within the pianist, but the ahoged blonde couldn't seem to place where. Kaede smiled back regardless while Mondo gave a nod of acknowledgement. The gamer cocked her head to the side again as she examined the room. "...Do either of you know where we are?"

Akamatsu shook her head. "No, sorry. But… this is a little weird, isn't it? Three different people all showing up at the same place without any clue where they are or how they got there? All of them ultimates, at that?" Kaede pointed out. Mondo fixed her with an odd look.

"What, are you sayin' we got kidnapped or some shit? You'd have to be pretty ballsy to try something like that." The biker replied, though he didn't seem to totally dismiss the idea. 

"That's true, but…" She said, pursing her lips in a pout. Kaede turned to Chiaki to ask her opinion, only to be caught off guard as the girl pulled out a handheld console out of seemingly nowhere and began skillfully tapping away, the hums of digitized explosions and the chirps of eight-bit music reverberating the now silent room. Kaede deflated a little before clapping her hands together. "Well, we won't find out anything standing around here! We should go and look around!"

Owada stared at her. "... Tch. Guess we ain't got many other options… hey, you two. Stay behind me."

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

The biker's eyes rolled. "You just fuckin' said we might've gotten kidnapped. If that's what happened, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let two girls get hurt by these pricks. That's a man's promise." He spoke with a level of conviction the pianist hadn't expected from someone as outwardly shady as him. 

_ "Don't judge a book by its cover, I guess," _She mused. Giving a smile, she declared, "Ah, right. In that case, lead the way!" She pumped her fists supportively. Mondo didn't comment as he moved to the door and the trio made their way out into the corridor. It was as upper class as the room they left mere moments prior, though the sharp reds and whites had been swapped for royal blues and yellows. Golden trimmed curtains lined the tops of the walls, almost like a guide in a maze. "Wow… this place is beautiful. It's like a castle or something."

"Kinda frilly for my tastes. Too much pomp. Between this or my garage, I'd be with my bike every day of the week. I dunno. What about you… uh, Chiaki, right?"

"... It's nice, I guess. I usually just hang out in my room though, so I'm probably not the best judge for that… I think..." Chiaki replied as casually as Kaede had ever heard the gamer speak. Then again, seeing as how they had known each other for five minutes at most, that wasn't exactly a high bar. Chiaki looked up from her game for a moment, a part of the pianist relieved that Nanami was finally paying attention to something beside the console. The Ultimate Gamer was staring intently at a candelabra further down in the hall, oddly enough. "... Hey, we should smash that. An axe might pop out," she declared. Mondo looked back over his shoulder while Kaede stared dumbly at Chiaki, who elaborated after a moment. "... That was a joke. But it would come in handy if we had to fight Dracula…"

Kaede, deciding to humor the other girl, smiled wryly. "If we find a piano along the way, I could play some boss fight music."

The man with the orange pompadour grunted. "Stop fuckin' around," He muttered, though his voice lacked any actual venom to it. Pointedly ignoring Kaede's giggles, Owada continued to lead them through the seemingly endless hallway. 

***

Minutes ticked by with little fanfare or notable conversation, the only especially interesting event being a few locked doors that wouldn't budge even to Mondo's considerable strength. Kaede's initial appreciation of the decor was gradually turning sour, feeling less like a beautiful manor and more like a mockingly tawdry prison. Locked door after locked door was all that seemed to await them the further they went down the grand hallway until she started suspecting that they'd somehow started going in circles. Those fears were relieved, however, when the unlikely combination of ultimates finally stumbled across a staircase. It was just as posh as the rest of the rooms they'd seen thus far, with golden railings running alongside mahogany steps covers by a crimson red carpet that served as a guiding path. It likely would have been an impressive sight to behold if they had any idea why they were there to witness it.

"... Should we head up?" Chiaki questioned hesitantly, though whether this was out of actual fear or simply the girl's measured speech pattern was difficult to tell. It didn't help that her face was firmly glued to her game, hiding whatever expression might have hinted towards her true feelings.

"The doors down here were locked, so we don't really have a choice." Kaede countered as she crossed her arms and scrutinized the stairwell. Despite her eager and collected exterior, if she were being honest, Akamatsu's suspicions were beginning to turn into unease. Waking up in a foreign place with strangers was unsettling enough, but to not even come across another person outside of their trio in what must have been at least a quarter of an hour and finding nothing but locked doors was like the set up to a horror movie. _ Was _going upstairs the best idea they had? They had no guarantee of safety when they first left the dining room either, but maybe it was better when they didn't know what to expect. If the next floor had more of the same, or worse-

"_**Gerrrrrow!**_"

A heavily muffled yet remarkably loud and guttural noise rumbled from the next floor like a rolling thunderbolt in the distance, catching all three of them off guard. "The hell was that?" Mondo wondered aloud. Kaede shared his sentiments. As the initial surprise wore off, however, curiosity and dread warred for dominance in her mind. It was the first sound not produced by them that she'd heard in ages, which was simultaneously a massive relief and yet incredibly troubling to her. On the one hand, it meant someone or something else was out there. On the other, it meant _ someone or something else was out there _. As it stood, Kaede saw two options: sit around and wait for either an enemy to attack or a possible friend to pass them by, or confront whatever it was head on and make the best of it. Well… Kaede never was one for taking the road most traveled.

"Well, now we have to go up there! Maybe it's another one of us, and if it's not, well, we'll be counting on you, Mondo!" The Ultimate Pianist declared excitedly, trying to psyche herself up for the task as much as she was the two strangers. Chiaki gave an affirming hum over the din of her handheld while the biker in question smirked a little.

"I don't need a pep talk to kick someone's ass. C'mon." He instructed as he once again charged ahead of the pianist and the gamer, the back of his jacket proudly displaying the words 'CRAZY DIAMOND'. Kaede couldn't help but think the name sounded familiar, though where on earth someone like her would have heard of a street gang like Mondo's was beyond her. Regardless, as they made their way up the steps, Akamatsu tried to pinpoint the sound once again. While she generally wasn't one to brag, it was undeniable that her hearing was almost superhuman compared to most. The cheers of her loved ones in crowded concert halls, misplaced notes on the other side of a busy music room, pins dropping multiple rooms away... with enough focus and the right conditions, Kaede could make out just about any sound amongst a chaotic cacophony with relative ease. Closing her eyes, she searched for the sound's elusive source.

Initially, there were nothing beyond small murmurs that were barely audible even to her trained ears. The higher they went, however, the more the indistinguishable white noise was broken up by unique sounds. It wasn't long before she was able to make out one such sound as a voice. "_ ... -y na-... gane. I-... ayer! _"

"There's definitely someone up here. I can hear them talking. Let's keep going."

"Huh? How the hell can you tell that?" The gang leader questioned and Kaede's expression hardened, his voice throwing her off the metaphorical scent of the voice. "Hey... what are you-"

The pianist cut him off before he could distract her any further. "Just trust me on this, okay? I have to concentrate. Keep going forward." Kaede repeated, her eyes still clamped shut. After a moment of hesitation, she could hear his bootfalls resuming and nearly covering the sound of his grumbling. If someone were to ask her to describe what it was like to follow her hearing like this, the closest analogy she could think of was messing with a TV antenna until the picture came in just right. It had about as much trial and error involved at any rate. 

Mondo tapped her shoulder. "Yo, Akamatsu, there's a couple rooms here. Left, right, or straight?" He questioned. Kaede took a couple steps forward and turned to find which of the three directions carried the sound the best. 

"_ ... -ame is Gu-... -ka! Reme-... -is wor-! -y four dark- _"

"Straight," She called out. Now they were getting somewhere...

"_ ... Ah… -one else? Plainly, I-... _ " She could _ just _ start to make out the words, though the voice itself was too muffled to discern any distinguishing qualities about it. She frowned at the lack of detail. They must've either been very far or in _ very _ well soundproofed rooms for her listening skills to be struggling this much. Still, it was more than she had a few moments before, so that was something at least.

"There's another split up ahead..." Chiaki softly announced. It didn't take long for their enigmatic prey to give her another hint, thankfully.

"_ Hehehe… -seems I am not-... -uned to the presence of the unholy! _" A different voice proclaimed. Akamatsu's brow furrowed. Presence of the unholy? What the hell?

"Uh… I think there might be an exorcism or something going on? Or maybe someone’s watching a scary movie? This guy isn't making a lot of sense… still, go left here." Kaede called out. She picked up the pace, moving past an objecting Mondo as she zeroed in on the strangers.

"_ ... -on't really know about unholy creatures, but-... -ooking pretty pale. Do you think-... okay? _" 

"We're almost there. They should be right ahead…"

Mondo's voice was laced with an ominous edge as he warned, "There's three doors. Not many places for them to hide… or for you two, if shit goes south. You sure about this?"

Kaede nodded without hesitation. "Absolutely. No matter what, I know we'll protect each other, and get out of here okay. That's my promise." She announced determinedly.

"... Yep, Kaede's right. Let's do it." Chiaki confirmed. She wasn't sure because of how the gamer's head was angled, but Akamatsu thought she could see a ghost of a smirk pulling on the other girl's features.

"Alright! Just let me figure out which one they're in…"

“_ Hmm… Yes, I agree, Plain one. It does indeed seem like there is a third one of us within that locker. However, before we attempt to break it from its reinforced prison, I would like to consult my Devas first. We shall need all the ethereal power we can in order to summon the Ebon Witch from its eternal slumber _.”

“_ Um… I don’t think you need to ask for my permission for that.. _.”

Kaede’s eyes shot up towards the middle door down the hall. "There!" She pointed, a sense of accomplishment radiating in her. Although she didn’t recognize the former's rumbling voice, there was something about the latter one that sounded unplaceably yet distinctly familiar to her. The trio approached the door, Mondo reaching for a handle until Chiaki reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Wait," The pink-haired girl whispered. "We should wait and listen first… I think." Chiaki's prior determination managed to disappear completely in the span of those two final words, but it seemed to have enough of an impact on Owada to stay his hand at least for the moment. Instead, the unlikely gathering of ultimates leaned in as close as possible and began to eavesdrop on the peculiar conversation on the other end.

“_ Hm… I see. You are indeed correct, San-D. With magical power so strong that it would require a locker forged of the strongest Mythril, there is little doubt that the sleeping Witch within would make for a powerful ally to the Tanaka Empire! Very well, let us begin, my four Dark Devas of Destruction! _"

Kaede raised an eyebrow in confusion. Just like it had down the corridor, most of what the male voice had said sounded like complete and utter nonsense to her, almost as if she was listening to someone speaking in a language she only understood a few words of. She turned her head towards Chaiki, whose normally sleepy face now had a small smile adorning it.

“... Hey guys?” Chiaki began, “I think I recognize one of those voices. It sounds… exactly like a friend of mine.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but I also recognized one of them,” Kaede confirmed, though her exact familiarity with the voice was still rather dubious. Even this close, it was difficult to actually note anything unique about it, like it was a generic tune rather than a fleshed out melody. "The other guy, though…"

"_ Step back, mortal, elsewise I cannot guarantee your safety from the dark magic I am about to unleash upon this prison of Mythril and iron! _" He roared, barking laughter soon following. Kaede couldn't help the slightly nervous smile she was forming.

“Does your friend… always talk like a… well… like a crazy person?” Kaede asked dubiously, unable to think of a more flattering way to describe it. Chiaki simply nodded. 

“Yeah. That’s him, without a doubt. I’d recognize those mannerisms anywhere.” Chiaki replied, her smile seeming to grow despite still remaining tiny. Kaede opened her mouth to reply, but found it slowly closing again as she was cut off by the male’s voice once more.

“_ Satanael… I call on thee once more. Hear my call! Smite the magical barrier that surrounds the Ebon Witch, and free her from her eternal slumber, so she may unleash her full wrath against those who oppose the Tanaka Empire! Come forth, Ebon Witch! Rise from your prison, and join me, Gundha-- _”

** _KA-SLAM_ **

All at once, the male voice’s loudmouthed theatrics ground to a sudden and unceremonious halt as the sound of slamming metal took its stead. However, within a moment, the sound of uproarious laughter filled the air.

“_ Bwahaha! It would appear my magical summons was beyond successful! Well done, my Devas! With that being said, Ebon Witch, your grip is a little too tight. Would you kin-- _”

His antiquated ranting was cut short by a fierce yet oddly dignified woman's voice. “_Is_ _it?_ **_Good_**.” She hissed, her voice containing a level of foreign sophistication quite unlike the bellowing from Chaiki’s classmate. A pause followed, before the so-called dark mage spoke up again.

“_ Ahem. Ebon Witch, I warn you now that the collar you’re gripping is composed of pure dark energy from the astral deity Cephiro! Prolonged contact from anyone other than its owner, such as what you are doing right now, can cause even the most resilient souls to catch fire and burn! I warn you for your own safety; unhand my collar! _" He exclaimed, somewhere between a growl and a plea. The European voice chuckled.

“_ Oh, so we’ve gone from screaming about utter nonsense to handing out warnings about utter nonsense, have we? Well, I suppose that is at least a step in the right direction. Very well then, as long as we’re giving each other warnings, I suppose it’s only fair I grant you one as well. _” The other voice replied, causing the male to scoff.

Kaede turned towards her fellow ultimates to gauge their reactions. Although Mondo didn’t seem to have any initial response to the voices, his face had darkened considerably at the arrival of the third. Chaiki’s eyes were locked onto the door in front of them, an uncharacteristically calculating look in her eye that juxtaposed harshly with the girl's normally constantly distracted pinkish-purple globes. In that same vein, upon hearing the voices, Nanami had completely put away her handheld for the first time since they’d started exploring. However, the small beam she’d gained when she first heard her friend vanished, now replaced with an expression of mounting worry.

From the other side of the room, the gruffer of the three voices huffed out a retort. “_ Hmph, there is nothing you could possibly warn the Supreme Overlord of Ice about. With my beast lords at my side, reality itself bends to my will! Feel fortunate, however, Ebon Witch, because I, Gundham Tanaka, will indulge your request. What is your warning? _” The man apparently named Gundham asked.

“_ Oh, it’s nothing much. I’ll keep it simple for you, just to make sure you understand. _ ” The female voice began, before suddenly dropping the accent completely and switching to a darker, louder voice, completely free of its original European flair. “ _ If you don’t want me to pull on both ends of your stupid scarf until you see the face of God, then you will do us all a favor, and _ ** _shut. Up_ **!”

Before either Kaede or Mondo could realize what she was doing, Chiaki opened the door and rushed inside, causing the other two to rush to her defense. The scene before them was almost comical: a girl dressed in all black, white and red with hair spirals larger than her actual head and a ghostly white face distorted into a monstrous glare as she grabbed another goth by the collar of his dark purple scarf, his mismatched eyes glaring darkly at her as he uselessly tried to pry himself out of her deathtrap. More peculiar, however, were the four hamsters that sat two on each shoulder that were letting out a positively enraged hiss at the woman in unison, the no-doubt usually cute creatures gaining a feral and intimidating appearance as they prepared to defend what was likely their master. All the while, Tsumugi stood awkwardly behind the battling edgelords, ringing her hands nervously. Kaede would've laughed if she didn't feel just as concerned as the Ultimate Cosplayer. Of course, immediately after she thought that, a realization hit her like a bus. _"Wait... Tsumugi?_ _How do I know her name? Or her talent, for that matter? Did we meet before?" _The questions came a mile a minute to her increasingly boggled mind. They would have to go unanswered for the moment, however, as the entire room froze at their arrival and all eyes flocked to them. Before long, however, the hall was filled with the already familiar sound of Gunham's exuberant cackling.

“Well, well! It would seem that hell hath not cast me far if I am encountering she with the Iron Thumbs once more. Greetings, Chiaki. It has been quite some time since fate last dained us to meet!” He proclaimed as he finally managed to escape his attacker's ferocious grip. The unnamed woman glowered at him for a few moments longer before smoothing out her dress and allowing her face to fall to a clearly practiced if still elegant smile.

“Great to see you again, Gundham. It’s good to know that there’s at least one person here who I already know.” Chiaki replied uncharacteristically quickly, her eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning. Kaede smiled at her slothful companion's sudden enthusiasm, but turned her focus to the blue-haired girl that was beaming at her.

"Ah! Kaede! It's good to see you again!"

"Hey, Tsumugi!" Kaede greeted gleefully. She wasn't the closest of friends with the cosplayer, but a familiar face was a familiar face, and it wasn't as if she disliked Shirogane by any means. "God, it feels like it's been forever, doesn't it?"

Tsumugi nodded in agreement. "Totally! I don't think we've seen each other since…" She gradually trailed off as her joyful expression sunk to one of confusion. "Since… when _ did _we last see each other?"

Kaede shot up a finger confidently as she went to reply, only to find her mouth opening and closing wordlessly as any attempt to recall a memory of the girl before her came up blank. "I… I don't remember either. I… I know you're my friend, but I can't remember where we met... sorry, that must sound super rude…" Kaede trailed off apologetically. To her relief, Tsumugi quickly shook her head.

"No, no, I'm the same! I wouldn't blame you for forgetting meeting someone as plain as me, but for me to forget someone like you? I think it might be something serious. Maybe-"

"FOOLS! You were no doubt tempted by the siren scent of a lotus, and forsook your memories for the hellishly sweet taste of oblivion!" Gundham roared out, the accusing tone of his interruption backed up by his glare. "To cast aside a memory is to cast away part of your very soul. I pity you, poor mortals, for you will never-"

"Gundham, do you remember where we met?" Chiaki asked plainly, looking at him with a blank expression. 

Gundham threw his head back cackling, something he did so often Kaede had to wonder how he had any breath at all to carry out his monologues. "But of course, sinner! Our paths first crossed… it was our legendary battle at…" His bravado finally failed him as he frowned. "... Hmph. It seems I have fallen victim to a flayer of memory. It must have been a demon most powerful to pierce through my defenses…"

_ "I have to admire his dedication to his act, at least," _Akamatsu thought to herself, simultaneously impressed and exasperated with Tanaka's antics. She turned to Mondo, who was sneering at the darkly dressed aristocrat while she glared daggers at him in turn. Sensing the tension between them, Kaede looked back to Tsumugi. "Sorry, could I have a moment?" She asked. With Shirogane's confirming nod, the pianist quickly made her way over to the pair, clapping her hands together positively. "Hey guys! Do you two know each other, too?"

Owada scoffed. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that. All the people I know, and it's gotta be Celestia fuckin' Ludenberg I run into? Tch. Some luck."

The girl, Celestia, apparently, turned from him dismissively. "Loath as I am to agree, I must concede, it seems my luck has taken a turn for the worse if I am stuck here with an E-rank such as yourself." Ludenberg passive-aggressively concurred. 

_ "Uh, wow." _ Kaede's expression hardened a little, crossing her arms at the other girl. "Hey, that's not right. You shouldn't put people down like that!" Akamatsu argued. Celestia turned to face her properly for the first time since the blonde made her presence known. As she met Kaede's gaze, her red eyes twitched so quickly that she wasn't entirely sure she didn't imagine it. The rush of confidence that had filled her mere momenta prior was now mixed with a distinct sense of unsettlement as Celestia looked at her as if she were a slightly annoying puppy.

"Is it not also improper to inject oneself into another's business without permission? Why, we haven't even been properly introduced. I suppose it is to be expected to some extent, given the circumstances, but it seems manners have been foregone nonetheless. Allow me to remedy this. I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. However, I would prefer if you called me Celeste," She informed, her monotone voice nearly managing to sound both haughty and kind at the same time despite the clearly measured tempo she was giving it. After a moment of silence, Celeste's calm expression shifted into one of barely contained annoyance. "Would you be so kind as to return my courtesy, or would you rather I make up a name and talent for you?"

"O-oh, right. I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. It's nice to meet you," Kaede stumbled awkwardly, faking a smile. Celeste, thankfully, didn't seem interested in keeping up the conversation any longer than they had to, bowing out of their tense exchange almost immediately after with a tersed out 'likewise'. She turned to Mondo, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Geez… she's kind of intense, isn't she?"

Mondo scoffed once more, still glaring bitterly at the gambler as the ultimate in question spoke with a less than interested Chiaki. "Tch. That your way of saying she's a bitch?"

"Mondo!"

His fierce expression softened a little, a glint of amusement dancing in his narrow eyes. "What, am I wrong?"

Akamatsu found herself smirking a little despite herself. "... I didn't say that, either. Still, more people is probably a good thing, even if they're… _ difficult _. Gundham seems alright, if a bit eccentric. I know Tsumugi, too, so I think we're good there. Uh… this might sound weird, but do you remember where the two of you met?"

Owada seemed to consider it for a moment before gaining a puzzled look on his face. "Actually… come to think of it, I don't. We ain't exactly running in the same circles, you know?"

"Hmmm… I don't really have any idea why that could be. I doubt it's good, though," She explained. Now that there wasn't a fight nearly breaking out right in front of her, Kaede took the time to give the room a once over. While every room they'd come across thus far was definitely fancy, this room in particular seemed especially high-brow. The flashy blues and yellows of the hallway were replaced by far more reserved greens, reds, and browns, the room bathed in gentle candlelight from an ornate yet tactful chandelier that hung from the center of the room over a sizable table. A few simple but comfortable looking couches littered the room. Three long since abandoned lockers lined the back of the wall next to a long line of various cleaning tools, ranging from washing and drying machines to several different kinds of vacuums to some devices Kaede hardly even knew how to describe. She was hardly a neat freak, but she was glad to see that whoever ran cleaning in this place took it seriously. If she could just figure out what 'this place' was and why she was here, it would probably be lovely. Of course, that task had just gotten a little less daunting. 

She shifted her focus back towards the new faces of the room. Celeste, apparently having finished with Nanami, had secluded herself away from the rest of the party, gracefully sitting in one of the sofas. She could almost be mistaken for a doll if it weren't for an occasional blink. Meanwhile, Chiaki and Tsumugi looked to be in a rather animated conversation about something as the pair huddled around the portable game machine. Much to the pianist's amusement, she could just make out Gundham lurking behind them, trying his best to look stoic and mysterious even as he rather unsubtly watched the Ultimate Gamer play out of the corner of his eye. A peculiar feeling of nostalgia took root inside the young maestro at the scene. It felt so very familiar, like her heart was a hot air balloon that suddenly found its flame, yet it was distinctly different from the joy she got from witnessing the grinning and cheering faces of her audience. It was something more akin to seeing people recreate a cherished photograph. A photograph that she couldn't quite picture in her mind or recall who was there or why it was taken, but that was beside the point. Witnessing the seeds of friendship beginning to plant among her fellow ultimates gave Kaede a sudden burst of confidence to propel them all forward. Clapping her hands together, she declared, "Alright, guys! I think we should stick together and explore this place! Who's with me?"

Unsurprisingly, Tsumugi was the first to agree. "It's what plainly makes the most sense to me. You don't win alone, that's just how it is… actually, that quote sounds kinda cheesy out loud. But still!" Kaede's close acquaintance cheered, earning a grateful smile from her.

"That makes four… hey, ice dude, what about you?" Owada queried. The man in question had closed his eyes, appearing deep in thought.

A low and considering hum reverberated from Tanaka. "Hmm… so, the Siren's High Priestess and those under her thrall seek to stray further into the maw of hell itself… HA! Be it courage or foolishness, your tenacity intrigues me! Very well, I, Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, shall lend you my strength! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The boisterous sorcerer howled out, striking a dramatic pose that sent his scarf and coat billowing out behind him. Kaede blinked. After a few seconds, his manic grin began to fall from his face. "... Ahem. The master of four Dark Devas of Destruction, the devourers of countless worlds, has just sworn to aid you. It would be unwise to ignore such an advantage…" He grumbled, looking somewhat cross. Realization struck the pianist as she finally managed to decipher his insane word salad.

"Ah! Thank you, Gundham! And your cute little hamsters, too."

The Overlord of Ice chuckled knowingly. "Ah, I see that even one as powerful as you cannot pierce their veil of illusion. These are no ordinary hamsters. These are the four Dark Devas: San-D! Jum-P! Maga-Z! Cham-P! They are ancient and powerful beings merely taking the guise of hamsters to better observe the mortal realm."

Kaede truly hoped that she didn't look as boggled as she felt. _ "Calling himself an overlord of ice, saying I'm a siren or something, gods disguised as hamsters… how does he come up with this stuff?" _

Wordlessly, the group turned to the final unaligned student in the room. Ludenberg's sharp gaze lingered on each of the ultimates for but a few moments per person, her carefully composed expression completely masking whatever the gambler was thinking. A quick glance around the room proved Mondo and Gundham both flowering at Celeste to varying extents while Tsumugi and Chiaki looked about as curious as she felt. It wasn't really a matter of actually wanting Celestia around; their introduction and actions before they entered the room told Kaede more than enough to know the two likely wouldn't get along. Rather, it was mostly fueled by her increasing unease and suspicion of her surroundings. If she was right and something bad was happening, she couldn't justify leaving someone behind like that, not even the terse and troublesome aristocrat. Finally, Celestia gave a small nod as she rose from her seat. "Very well. At the very least, it is likely safer to move as a group than to stay by oneself. I shall follow your lead for the moment."

"You won't regret it. I promise. Is everyone ready?" A chorus of various levels of affirmation answered her question. Satisfied, she turned and led the procession out of the room. Upon leaving, she turned her attention to the doors that stood on either end of the hallway. To her right was what looked to be an old Japanese shoji door with a symbol she didn't recognize emblazoned onto it. It peaked her curiosity given the far more western influences most of the building seemed to take, but the musician decided to save it for when they circled back around given her group had already come from that direction. To her left, however, was a room that practically screamed to her at the end of the hall. White and black keys of a piano formed a door that stood out like a sore thumb against the more customary color scheme of the corridor. 

"Is that… a music room?" She murmured to herself. Despite their situation, a small amount of excitement rose in her heart at the prospect. The collective clacking of six sets of feet made the vast hallway feel far less lonesome than it had the last time despite the nearly overwhelming size of whatever this place was. It seemed larger than almost any concert hall or estate she'd ever played at. Besides, things just weren't adding up. After all, a building this large and this well maintained, yet she'd encountered a grand total of _ five _other people? It brought her no pride to admit that she was becoming more and more confident in her kidnapping theory. Ultimates were practically celebrities, some of them literally so. Managing to take one as a hostage would probably come with a pretty big ransom demand. Multiply that by six… she shook her head. They'd find out what was going on, and if it was what she feared, they could overcome it together!

… at least, that's what she wished she could believe.

After a couple minutes, the group arrived at the threshold of the odd room. Up close, the piano door was even stranger than it looked from a distance. The sharps and flats were clearly three dimensional against the natural keys that made up the door itself. The white keys also had tiny, nearly invisible lines that separated the stems and keytops, something that would have meant little to most yet served as a major clue to the Ultimate Pianist. She carefully traced her finger along the door to test her suspicions and her eyes went wide as they were confirmed. "What…? This is ivory. A _ lot _of it. Geez... I can't even imagine how much it would cost to make an entire door out of this stuff. Whoever owns this place has expensive taste."

"And a vile soul at that. To even consider how many great leviathans of land were slaughtered to create this mockery… they will rue the day they insulted Tanaka the Forbidden One!" Gundham sneered, glaring darkly at the overly ornate entrance. The thought brought a frown to the pianist's face. She'd always preferred ivory keys for their sound, but now that he mentioned it… it was far from a happy thought to say the least.

Celeste cleared her throat politely. "Ahem. Debates about cost or ethics aside, I believe it would be best to simply open the door. That is what we are here to do, no?" The gambler pointed out. Kaede shook her head a little to refocus herself.

"Right. I don't hear anyone, but they might still be stuck in their lockers or something," She justified aloud. It totally wasn't fueled by wanting to play some of her worries away on a piano, not even a little. A small painted doorknob blended in almost perfectly with the white keys. Her skilled hands wrapped around the handle, twisted, and… ** _click clack click!_ ** It jiggled in place, refusing to budge an inch. Akamatsu couldn't hide the disappointment from her face. _ "All that build up just for it to be locked? What rotten luck…" _The musician complained to herself. So much for that song… she shook her head as she turned back to her crew. "It's locked. Guess we're not getting in there."

"Um… maybe I'm just plainly being silly, but he looks pretty tough. Do you think you could break the door down or something?" Tsumugi asked Mondo. The ultimate in question glanced at her with thinned lips.

"... Fuck it, might as well give it a shot. Get back." Owada instructed, cracking his knuckles. He started towards the door before Kaede or anyone else could get a word of protest out, a six-foot tower of pure muscle on a mission. Akamatsu took a couple steps away on sheer instinct, too stunned to voice her concerns. Some instinctual gut reaction was screaming that it would be a bad idea, but she couldn't find the sense to say as much. Owada was mere inches from the intricately designed doorway by now, about to ram into it with all of his considerable force-

The sound of something slamming into metal reverberated from down the hall to their right. "_ God damn it, open up, you useless hunk of crap! _" A man's faint shout followed soon after. The group spun in surprise instantly. Suspicious and startled eyes flicked to one another, none quite sure what to do or say. After a few long moments, Chiaki spoke up.

"... There's someone up ahead. We should go."

Kaede leapt at the opportunity. "Yeah, that's right. We can come back to this later. Come on, guys!" The apparent leader of the group declared. She pushed her momentary dismay to the back of her mind as she tried to focus on why that voice struck a chord with her. Like a song that she didn't know the name of, it rang just enough bells for her to know that she _ should _ recognize it while staying just short of actually being identified. Frustratingly _ unlike _a song, she didn't have an ultimate talent that would let her perfectly replicate it to jog her memory. It was trapped in an infuriating loop in her mind that simply refused to leave. Even as the others began into idle chit chat, it kept bouncing around in her skull. So little was adding up, despite the pieces standing there in front of her. Her encouraging beam remained steadfast on the outside, even despite the growing hole of uncertainty pooling in her stomach.

***

"How fuckin' big do these hallways have to be?" Mondo grumbled under his breath. At this point, Kaede was inclined to agree. They had been walking for at least five minutes straight without any sign of anyone else, or even any twists or turns in the stretching corridor. It wasn't unlike the extravagant hall they had found themselves in on the first deck in that regard, yet it seemed so much emptier despite having twice the amount of people. Between the size of the place and the ridiculously classy decorating, it was beginning to feel like they'd been kidnapped by a billionaire or something. It was an unlikely idea, but it was also unlikely to wake up surrounded by strangers and people you shouldn't know yet somehow do, so Kaede wasn't comfortable completing dismissing the idea for now. 

"Perhaps a curse has been placed upon us, forcing us to transverse in circles for all eternity."

"Trapped in a hallway that goes on forever? That sounds like a pretty neat idea for a story, actually." Tsumugi offered positively, seeming to miss the dark lord's subtle sarcasm. At least, what the Ultimate Pianist was pretty sure was sarcasm.

"I played a game like that once. It was pretty cool… but they canceled it and made a slot machine instead." Chiaki piped up, a hint of bitter disappointment in her voice as she went on. Akamatsu, not being particularly familiar with whatever game Chiaki was talking about, instead picked up on an opportunity to learn more about the least talkative member of their group.

"Slot machine, huh? Do you think you ever played it, Celeste?" Kaede asked less out of genuine curiosity and more as an olive branch to the gambler. It was possible they just got off on the wrong foot, after all. She'd made rockier introductions into friendships before. She glanced back to the girl in question to see her giving a small shake of her head.

"I cannot say for certain, but I have my doubts. I tend to prefer more skill based games. Poker, blackjack, high stakes mahjong and the like. Much of the thrill of gambling is predicting your opponent's thoughts and moves. Betting against a machine is simply nowhere near as interesting." Ludenberg explained. Kaede was encouraged by the trace of genuine interest in the black-haired girl's response.

Nanami looked intrigued. "... I've only played poker in games. Is it different in real life?"

"If they portrayed the rules right, you'll likely understand the basics, at least. However, there are many subtleties in a match that can only truly be known by playing for yourself. Perhaps I could arrange such a thing, should you prove interested." 

_ "Now we're getting somewhere!" _Kaede thought excitedly. The sextet's back and forth continued for quite some time, chattering about whatever happened to come to mind. Most of it tended to be either Chiaki and Tsumugi debating about the newest games or Gundham going on another rant, both with occasional additions from Kaede and the others (namely Celeste threatening the dark mage more than once). Eventually, though, the sounds of jostling and pounding metal and echoing grunts became decidedly too close for her to ignore any longer. It sounded like they couldn't be more than maybe a few dozen meters away, hidden behind the corner of a left turn. Holding up a hand, the maestro stopped and turned to the others. "You guys can hear that, right?"

"It's rather hard to miss. Chiaki's earlier statement is undeniable: someone, or some_thing_, awaits." Celeste pointed out nonchalantly. The darkly dressed girl narrowed her eyes, putting a hand over her mouth as her gaze danced over each student. "... Considering what's happened so far, it's not unreasonable to think there might be danger ahead. One of us should go first and see."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kaede questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

Ludenberg's expression was almost completely blank, a poker face truly befitting of the Ultimate Gambler. "Kaede, was it? We've been brought to an unknown place, likely against our will, and have been left to fend for ourselves. Our kidnappers could very well be the ones making such noise. They wouldn't care about being quiet, after all."

Kaede's lips turned downwards. "Well, that's true, but isn't that all the more reason to stay together?" She offered hopefully. Celeste gave a little shake of her head.

"Quite the contrary. Don't you think people crafty enough to capture multiple Ultimates would be intelligent enough to be armed? We cannot pretend to know what they have in store for us, or if they're willing to kill some of us to achieve it. Perhaps they will open fire the moment they see us, or perhaps they're more of us. It's impossible to know unless one of us is willing to take a risk."

Mondo sneered at her. "What, you think one of us should be a damn sacrificial lamb for you? Fuck that pussy bullshit. We stick together. If the bastards that kidnapped us are up ahead, I'll rip'em to fuckin' shreds myself!" The biker declared, clenching a fist. Celeste looked remarkably unimpressed.

"It's not a matter of cowardice. It is merely basic logic. Why go all in when you don't even know your cards? I will not pretend I wish to be the one to confront them, but between possibly losing one or losing everyone, I'm sure even you could understand which choice is better."

Shirogane raised up a finger as she spoke. "Um, sorry, but I call 'not it'. I'm plainly a little bit scared, honestly…" The cosplayer meekly added, a somewhat guilty look crossing her face. Akamatsu sighed. That… wasn't surprising, coming from Tsumugi, but it didn't help the blonde's unifying efforts in the slightest. She refused to let that uncertainty show, however.

"Chiaki, what do you-" A soft snore cut her off, Kaede glancing to her left to find the girl in question rather impressively asleep on her feet. She could only stare in bewilderment. "Uh, Chiaki? Hello?" Kaede called out, extending a hand towards the other girl and tapping her shoulder. Nanami didn't seem to give any hint that she'd even felt it. She scratched her head awkwardly. _ "How is she even doing that…?" _She pondered. After a few more seconds of unresponsiveness, Kaede simply turned to the next in line. "Geez… I guess she really is sleepy. In that case, what do you think, Gundham?"

The heterochromatic teen stared for a few moments in clear thought, his mismatched gaze shifting between herself and Celeste. "... Though her true intentions are shrouded in a blackened veil of mystery, the Ebon Witch's words ring true. The weight of one life cannot compare to that of five. A sacrifice must be decided on if we are to move forward."

Owada moved his glare to the Ultimate Breeder. "You volunteerin'?"

The Overlord of Ice smirked at him. "As if mere mortals could ever hope to bring about the end of Tanaka the Forbidden One. If I'm to meet my end, it would only be through world-ending calamity! So yes, Mondo Owada, I am indeed prepared to unleash upon these fiends complete pandemonium!" Gundham roared.

"Stop fuckin' yelling!" Owada shouted back, completely oblivious to the irony.

Chiaki's head snapped up, her pink eyes looking at them blearily. "... Huh?"

Sensing that it was getting out of hand, Akamatsu quickly reasserted herself in the conversation. "Guys, wait!" She interrupted, the two arguing teens stopping and turning to face her. Satisfied that they were paying attention, she continued. "We don't know for sure that whoever's up there is bad. We shouldn't pick a fight where there doesn't need to be. If we are splitting up, it should be someone who can handle themselves, but less… intense. You guys should stay behind with the group. I'll see who's there."

"No fuckin' way! I already gave you my word I'd protect you, didn't I? A man's gotta fulfil his promises, or he's less than nothing!" Owada's response was as quick as it was predictable. His protective loyalty was appreciated, if completely unnecessary to her. Still, his chivalry was quickly becoming a problem. Akamatsu crossed her arms.

"I'm not a little kid, Mondo. I can handle myself if I have to." She said firmly.

The biker scowled. "I wasn't saying-"

Kaede shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Just… trust me, okay? I'm not planning on dying today. I promised we'd escape together, and I mean it."

His expression was hard to read. The orange-haired Ultimate had a slight sneer, though it lacked any malice for her in specific. His snakish eyes flicked over her uncertainty for a few tense moments before his scowl deepened, hanging his head with a sigh. "... If I hear anything goin' down, I'm hauling ass over there, alright? Don't do some stupid bullshit that gets us killed."

She managed a small smirk at his foul-mouthed promise. "I'll try not to. I'll be back soon, so stay safe, guys." She instructed, getting a few nods and words of encouragement. She ignored Chiaki sluggishly asking what was going on as the pianist made her way down to the corner and hung a left, finding herself in a wide yet notably shorter hallway. Of course, 'shorter' by the standards of this place still meant that the passage was massive. She could see a trio of blurs at the end of the hall seemed to be responsible for the noise if the now significantly louder groans and grunts of effort were anything to go by. Kaede cautiously began her approach, trying her best to hide her footsteps amongst the racket up ahead. They were maybe a hundred and fifty feet away from her by the time she could finally start making out details. At the end of the corridor stood a large metal shudder that reached from the carpet to the ceiling, the steel glinting brilliantly in the artificial light. Kaede could make out what looked to be another staircase sealed off behind it similar to the one her group had climbed just half an hour prior. What was more of interest, however, were the three people examining the gate. She could only see their backs from her current position, but she could make out some details from where she stood. One of them was incredibly large, practically a ball on legs dressed in a grey blazer and no-doubt uncomfortably tight dress pants. His brown hair was well combed aside from a solitary but massive spike in the center. It almost made him look like an exclamation mark, but she quickly dismissed the somewhat joke as quickly as it came to her. His size made the young woman next to him almost look malnourished in comparison. Flowing braids of silvery white hair stood in harsh contrast to her black uniform and tights. Still, by far the most intriguing thing about her was the large swordsheeth slung across her back. _ "Wow… is that a costume, or is she actually the Ultimate Ninja or something?" _

The final person was hunched over to grab the bottom of the gate. If his groans of exhaustion were anything to go by, he must've been trying to pull up the shudder, and had probably been at it for some time. His spikey midnight purple hair complimented the lilac coat that hung off his right half like a cape. The sight of him made a sense of relieved joy bubble in her, even though his name seemed to be stuck on the tip of her tongue. "I don't believe it's going to move any time soon. We should try a different route." A feminine voice suggested. The familiar man tsked at her.

"C'mon, you two are my sidekicks, aren't you? You guys should be helping me out here." He chastised.

"I never agreed to such a thing."

"That's beside the point. The point is the impossible is possible if we work together! Hifumi, Peko, grab on and pull up on the count of three!" He proclaimed animatedly. She smirked. That was so… whatever-his-name-was of him. The big guy, most likely Hifumi, took a couple steps back while shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Momota! I'm still sore from the last attempt!" He complained.

Hearing the name was like a slap in the face. Of course, how could she have possibly forgotten him?! He was Momota, as in- "Kaito!" She called out grinning. The three by the gate swirled to face her, Peko grabbing for her sword while Hifumi let out a shrill and piercing scream that had her hands flying to her ears in an instant. Kaito visibly cringed at the noise, but once he caught sight of her, he broke out into his trademark massive beam.

"Hey, if it isn't another one of my sidekicks! Good to see you, Kaede!" The Ultimate Astronaut called back. Their mutual recognition seemed to bring the warrior to a pause, freezing halfway through pulling her weapon out. Hifumi's shrieking had thankfully come to an end, though he still looked like he was on the verge of having a heart attack. Momota held out a hand to calm them. "Guys, chill out, I know her. Did you manage to find anyone else here?"

Oh, right, she should probably let her new friends know what was going on, shouldn't she? "Come on out, guys, it's a friend!" Kaede instructed her group. The others stepped forward from the hall and joined by her side. For the first time since her arrival, Hifumi gained an expression beyond pure terror.

"Ah, Ms. Ludenberg! I-it is an honor most fine to be in your presence again! How may I be of service to you, my mistress? Fehehehe…" The portly boy announced in a voice that made Kaede's gut twist. A quick glance to Celeste confirmed she wasn't the only one unnerved by him, a new level of tension peaking through Ludernberg's composed facade.

"... I see. We are in hell. That is the only reasonable explanation for us to possibly meet again..." The gothic girl spoke slowly and evenly despite her harsh words and the slight furrow in her brow. Hifumi either didn't hear or didn't care about his words as he kept grinning (in Kaede's humble opinion) creepily at his supposed 'mistress' with every step she took towards him. "I suppose there is nothing to be done. You remember your place, I presume?"

Akamatsu stared at the pair in mild concern. _ "That… does _ ** _not_ ** _ seem like a healthy relationship…" _ She thought to herself as Celeste all but dragged an all too eager Hifumi to a more isolated position from the group. Peko barely seemed to care about the ordeal, keeping her nearly glowing red eyes moving behind her stylish spectacles to each and every one of them as if they'd suddenly attack at any moment. Kaito, on the other hand, looked somewhere between horribly confused and a little sick. "Um… _ that _aside, it's good to see you too, Kaito. And to meet you, Peko. I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist."

Pekoyama gave a short and respectful bow. It was a touch surprising, given her previously standoffish demeanor, but it wasn't unappreciated. "I am Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. It's nice to meet you, too."

"Swordswoman?" Kaede echoed, looking wide eyed at the other girl. "That's really cool! Would you mind if I watched a little after we figure out what's going on?"

"Count me in, too! It wouldn't be right for a hero not to train with his sidekick, right?" Kaito added helpfully.

Some surprise flashed across the silver-haired woman. "'Really… cool'? I… yes, that would be fine. It's merely unusual to find people with such an interest in it."

"How could anyone _ not _ be interested? I mean, you've gotta be incredible to be an Ultimate at it, right? You're practically a samurai."

Peko frowned slightly. "I have a frightening aura about me. Most sense that and choose to keep their distance. I have simply come to accept this over the years."

Kaito's fists slammed together as he gained a determined look. "Yeah, well, not from us! I can tell you're a good person, so I'm gonna believe in you, no matter what other people think. Right, Kaede?" The astronaut proudly declared. His enthusiasm was positively infectious as the pianist's own hands formed in their signature pose.

"Yeah, that's right! Kids at my school used to call me Piano Freak, so I kinda know what it's like to be treated differently because of your talent."

The swordswoman closed her eyes. "I… thank you. Once our situation has been resolved, it would be my pleasure to show you my abilities." Peko agreed. It was astounding to Kaede how quickly she switched between intimidating warrior and a somewhat shy teenager. Regardless, the seeds of friendship were planted, and she looked forward to seeing it blossom.

A low chuckling that had already become indicative of the so-called Overlord of Ice bellowed from behind her. As expected, Gundham stood with his arms crossed dramatically and a dark smirk playing across his lips. It was almost funny how much it contrasted to Chiaki's relatively bright color scheme and simple if genuine smile as she stood next to him. "The Swordmaster of Asura's Spirit, trapped in the same gilded cage as I? Heheheh. Causality has an interesting will indeed…"

Nanami's greeting was a far less dramatic, "Hey, Peko."

A small hint of tension seemed to leave the woman in question as she dropped into a less defensive posture. "Chiaki, Gundham. Under better circumstances, I would be glad to see you both again. As we are, though… I doubt the reason for our reunion is a happy one. We should be careful."

"Indeed, there is a dark aura permerating every inch of this place. But if we are to overcome its fiendish tricks, we must also know well those who would join by our side. Pekoyama, who is this mortal cloaked with the night sky?"

Peko and Kaede both went to respond only to be cut off by the man in question. "Why, I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! From crying children to vile villains, everyone admires the Ultimate Astronaut!"

Gundham blinked, staring blankly ahead for a moment. His thinned lips suddenly exploded into a mile wide grin, thunderous laughter drowning out all other sound in the room. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How rare for another to address me by their true title! Very well, Luminary! Before you stands Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Lord of Ice, master of the Four Dark Devas of Destruction and the unholy spirit of the Forbidden One! Beware, for I am evil incarnate! Do you think you could possibly defeat one as ancient and powerful as I, mortal?!"

Kaito looked as horribly confused as Kaede felt, and for a brief moment, she had a flickering hope that maybe Tanaka's rambling would simply end then and there. Those hopes came to a crushing end when Momota grinned back and threw his coat out behind him with a pumped fist. "That so? Well then, guess my sidekicks and I are just gonna have to show you how it's done! Our fight will span the entire universe; a battle of two men's ultimate passions!" The astronaut proclaimed. Akamatsu pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Are you guys seriously having a monologue-off?" She grumbled, glaring up at Momota warningly. He didn't seem to mind in the slightest, however. A glance to her side showed Peko had simply walked away from the conversation and stricken one up with Tsumugi, Celeste, and Hifumi instead. Or, rather, stood awkwardly as the cosplayer fangirled over the swordswoman's title and appearance while Pekoyama attempted a conversation with Ludenberg. Mondo leaned against a wall with crossed arms, an annoyed sneer crossing his face more and more as the two showmen continued their vapid debate.

"But of course, sinner! I am an unstoppable force confronted with an immovable object, and neither of us shall surrender!"

"It'll be just another chapter in my epic tale! I've defeated the toughest bad guys on land, air, and sea. Only fitting I beat a baron of hell before I conquer the stars!"

Kaede groaned into her hand. "Celeste was right; this is definitely hell..." She grumbled. It went completely ignored by the two boys as they continued their so-called legendary duel of overly dramatic barbs and brags. The pianist positively refused to acknowledge the hint of amusement poking through her exasperation. She damn sure took care not to let it show on her face. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage the pair. Momota could be pretty over dramatic at times, but now that he had someone with just as much of an active imagination and the same taste for monologues, there was no way the astronaut would ever let himself get one-upped by the self proclaimed embodiment of evil. 

She felt a poke in her shoulder, pulling her attention towards the petite figure next to her. "This'll probably go on for a while," Chiaki pointed out noncommittally. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two nearly identical handhelds only distinguishable by their colors. Kaede recognized the dark blue as the one the Ultimate Gamer had pulled out during their initial meeting while Nanami held out a hot orange variant towards her. "... Wanna play some Gala Omega?"

After a brief moment, Akamatsu accepted it, handling the unfamiliar device awkwardly. "Thanks. I probably won't be very good, though. I don't think I've ever actually played one before." The pianist warned. Chiaki gave a small shrug.

"Talent isn't everything. It doesn't matter if you're good so long as you enjoy the time you spend with others… I think." Her pink haired friend said casually as she flipped on her handheld with practiced, Kaede clumsily parroting the motions. Her expression fell a little.

"You don't seem to be very sure of your opinions..." Akamatsu noted drearily. The screen in front of her lit up brightly, a few seconds of colorful logos streaking across it before swapping to an equally flashy menu screen appeared. It took her a moment to find the arrow pad, but she quickly scrolled down to the section labeled two players. "You shouldn't be afraid to say what's on your mind without downplaying it. A little bit of confidence goes a long way."

Chiaki's lips curled slightly. "... It's not like that. I'm not scared. It's just better to leave things open."

The blonde leader considered it for a moment. "Maybe, but sometimes you have to take a firm stance and you can't have any doubt."

"... If things get that bad, it means I already let it get too far," Nanami lamented softly, an unexpectedly regretful sheen in her eyes. It disappeared as quickly it showed up, replaced by unwavering resolve in the blink of an eye. "But I think that's enough sad stuff. Ready?"

She wasn't exactly eager to drop the topic, but the same evidently couldn't be said for her companion. She considered pressing it further at first, but the odd aura coming off her new friend gave her pause. As often headstrong as she was, Akamatsu could tell when an approach wasn't working. Forcing the conversation would probably go badly. Plus, she couldn't claim to know Chiaki well enough to justify such nosiness yet. Instead, she made a note of the odd reaction and shifted gears. "Yeah, let's give it a go!" She agreed, pressing the select button and entering the match. 

To say Kaede got crushed would be harsh, but completely accurate. Her exceptional finger work did little to help her against Chiaki's relentless marauding. Time after time, her ship exploded in a hail of lasers and missiles that claimed the pianist's lives alongside any chance of victory. In truth, she could hardly be distinguished from the NPCs, just another lamb for the much more experienced player's slaughter all while the same fierce look of determination stayed stuck on the pink-haired girl's face like a mask from beginning to end. It was easy to see how Nanami had claimed the title of Ultimate Gamer if this was how she performed in a casual match. Despite getting handed losses hand over fist, though, she couldn't deny that it had probably been the funnest thing she'd done in a while. She surprised herself with just how invested she got in her attempts to best her opponent. By the time the pair finished the final round,she could definitely feel her heart pumping a little faster than normal, an excited energy still dancing in her fingers. The sheer gratification she'd gotten out of it came as quite a pleasant shock to the self-proclaimed piano freak that never bothered trying anything else. Plus, it served as a window to a new side of Chiaki when the girl was in her element. It was almost enough to make her forget the dire circumstances of their meeting. Nonetheless, she looked at Nanami gratefully. "That was actually really fun. We should do it again some time!" 

The shorter student looked pleased as she slipped the handheld back into her hoodie. "Sure. I'm up for a rematch whenever."

Before the conversation could continue, the sound of approaching footsteps caught the pair's attention as they looked to find Kaito walking towards them. His verbal sparring partner was notably absent. "Hey, Kaito. Did you out-monologue Gundham?" Kaede teased. Kaito pumped a fist, a wide grin on his face.

"Damn right! Like anyone could beat the speeches of the Ultimate Astronaut!"

"Knowing Gundham… that doesn't sound likely... I think." Chiaki pondered.

"Anyway, you guys finished? I was trying to get this gate open earlier. Me, Peko, and Hifumi couldn't get it up, but there's a lot more people here now. Wanna help give me another shot?" Kaito asked with one hand on his hip and the other shoving a thumb towards the barrier in question.

Kaede took a second to study the gate. The steel glimmered slightly in the bright fluorescent light like the ocean under a full moon. It was clearly well-maintained, not a speck of dust or rust to be found anywhere on it. It didn't look that heavy, but it didn't look light, either. Still, as she glanced around at the gathered Ultimates around her, she was confident in their odds. "Sure thing! How about it, guys?" Akamatsu backed him up cheerfully.

"... I still do not think this will work, but I will assist." Peko reluctantly agreed, uncertainty clear on her face.

Momota shook his head. "C'mon, believing is half the battle! You gotta have spirit!" He proclaimed with slamming fists. He shifted his radiating enthusiasm to the others. "Well? What about you guys?"

"... Sure, why the hell not." Owada drawled, cracking his knuckles. 

"It stands no chance against the dark arts of the Tanaka empire!" The dark mage declared, his hamsters popping out of his collar and raising their paws in support.

Tsumugi wrung her hands a little, looking downward. "Um, it plainly seems like the only option we have…"

Celeste shook her head slightly. "It would be a waste of my time," She dismissed. Flicking her hair back carelessly, she ordered, "Hifumi, you do it."

"Yes, my queen!" The Ultimate whatever Hifumi was all too eagerly declared. Kaede tried to suppress a shudder.

A number of expectant eyes turned to Chiaki, who gave a weak shrug. "Okay."

Kaede beamed in approval. Their reactions were more positive than she had honestly expected. Eight out of nine wasn't bad at all! "Alright! Let's do it!" With that inspiring declaration, the pianist and her allies gripped the barrier and shoved up with all their might. After a solid fifteen seconds of effort, however, it became abundantly clear to her that it wasn't working. After thirty seconds, she couldn't keep going, nearly tumbling over as she tried to regain her footing. Her fingers were an angry shade of red with a slight ache passing through them that made her cringe. She wasn't the first to give up, nor did she prove to be the last. Slowly but surely, the others grunts of effort turned into groans of frustration moments before they too stopped trying. Kaede scowled at the metal as if she could intimidate it into submission.

"What the hell is with this thing?! There's no way it shouldn't have gone up between all of us!" Kaito shouted, slamming his foot against the grate to little avail.

"I don't think we're allowed to sequence break here. Whoever put this gate here probably didn't want us going any further… maybe we have to do something before it opens up?" Chiaki suggested with a tilt of her head. No sooner than she said that did harsh static suddenly blare out from every direction as parts of the ceiling and walls folded open to reveal a number of TV screens. There was a monitor every 20 feet or so, each of them showing the same ominous red lightning bolt that seemed to shimmer against the pitch black background. Something about the sight made her skin crawl for reasons she couldn't even hope to explain. The _ bing bing bing _ of a digital bell and a squeaky voice that erupted from the screens soon after didn't help.

"Ahem, ahem, is this thing on? Alrighty! I am pleased to announce that all students have awoken! Please gather in the ballroom to meet with your fellow classmates at your earliest convenience. I wouldn't dilly dally too long, though! It's rude to keep people waiting. Puhuhuhuhuhu…" The far too reminiscent voice declared moments before the static image suddenly flicked to a map of some sort. A large red dot labeled 'you are here' sat across the hall from a long rectangle marked as the aforementioned ballroom with an arrow that read 'go here'. 

"... That's a little ominous…." Chiaki noted with a hint of worry in her brow. Kaede stared at the map scrutinizingly, uncertain between her suspicion and intrigue. On the one hand, it was pretty clearly a trap of some sort. Whoever was on the TV… whoever the **mastermind **was… wanted them to go there. Wait… mastermind? Where had she heard that term before? The familiar nothingness she felt trying to recall how she knew Tsumugi returned, much to her chagrin. Kaede scowled at the monitor. None of this made any sense. How the hell did she know these people? Why was she here? Why-

"Yo Chiaki, Kaede? You guys are coming along, right?" Momota's voice carried to her ear and snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes shot up to find him and the others waiting expectantly in the direction of the room the map specified, apparently having split off while she was lost in her own head. Kaede gave a quick affirmation once the brief startledness passed. Worrying about that wouldn't get her anywhere right now, no matter how much it weirded her out.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede and the others meet the rest of the Ultimates, and their merciless host.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thank you so much for your support of the first chapter! We're proud to present another chapter of this little killing game!

The walk to the ballroom passed much quicker than their previous attempts, probably aided by the fact that there was a clear layout of the building flashing displayed in every direction and a clear goal to reach on top of that. It was amazing how quickly they could move when they weren't checking every single door they came across out of both legitimate curiosity and fear of the unknown. Of course, a fast pace in this ridiculously huge place was still irritatingly slow for her tastes. A few minutes passed before a grand pair of stained glass doors with golden accents stood before them, the elegantly crafted ironwork above it proudly declaring it as the ballroom. Even with as ornate as the rest of their unorthodox prison had been, this place was beyond tawdry. She'd performed in enough gaudy estates to know when someone was trying way too hard on their decorating. Rolling her eyes a little, the pianist led her fellow students through the doors. 

The new hall was massive, easily twice the size of the already large dining hall she'd first found herself in. Massive twin chandeliers hung from the ceiling on either end of the room while the creamy white walls were lined with candles that bathed the hall a fiery orange. The floor was a smooth mix of black and white carpet that took up most of the room and a rich mahogany dance floor, the well-polished wood gleaming in the light. It was surrounded by dozens and dozens of tables and fine arm chairs angled to face it. On the far end resided a stage hidden behind crimson curtains with gleaming golden trims. Kaede stared wide-eyed at the Grand sight, her purple irises flicking over every inch of their surroundings. "Wow…" Was all she could manage to say.

"... This is to my liking. Perhaps our stay here won't be as miserable as I feared." Celeste conceded. The gambler's smile was small and measured, but it was without a doubt the most genuine one Akamatsu had seen on her thus far. The others piled into the room shortly after, a gaggle of ultimates crowding around the entrance. Nine pairs of eyes washed over the room with varying levels of appreciation. The quiet beauty of the room only lasted a few precious moments before it was shattered.

"Hey! Anyone in here?!" Kaito called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. Kaede winced. Well, if anyone hadn't known they were there before, they certainly did now. The Ultimate Astronaut was getting more than a couple glares from their more antisocial comrades, getting a confused look from him. "What? The guy on the TV was telling people to come here."

"You mean the fucker that probably kidnapped us in the first place?" Mondo growled out. "He's probably setting up a trap or something."

"The antihero speaks truly. We must err on the side of caution lest we stumble into the jaws of pandemonium…"

Before anyone else could join the fray, a voice shouted back from behind the curtain. "Yo! Who's there?! You better not be the guy screwing with us!"

Kaede's brow creased deeply. Yet another familiar voice… something about this one was different, though. Kaito and Tsumugi talked the same way she remembered (wherever she remembered them from), but while this one struck a lot of familiar notes, it was so much more energetic and confident than the one she recalled. The same look crossed her two classmates and confirmed that clearly she wasn't the only one getting that odd feeling. Peko stepped to the front of the group with a hand on her sheath. "We could say the same about you. Show yourself. You won't be harmed if you do so now…" The swordswoman declared, her voice steady and firm as a drumbeat. It was a considerable change of pace from the uncertain and slightly embarrassed tone she'd had just a few minutes prior. 

_ "Back to warrior mode, I guess." _

A few tense seconds passed in silence. Five. Six. Seven. Kaede was beginning to wonder if they'd scared the stranger off, closing her eyes and trying to focus in on any murmurs or footsteps. She could hear _ something _, but couldn't even begin to try making out what. The pianist didn't have to wait long however. 

"... Alright, but you better not be trying anything, alright? 'Cuz my fans are gonna go all psycho on you if you do something! I mean it!" The voice shouted. A couple seconds later, a man with fiery red hair and a goatee stepped forth from the stage. He was dressed in a sleek white jacket over a white shirt with a skull graphic on it, black pants and sneakers completing his look. It might have been a stylish outfit if the boy wearing it didn't look like he got paralyzed with a dumb and awkward smile plastered on his face. The beads of sweat running down his forehead were glistening brightly enough in the warm lighting to be visible from her position on the other side of the room. His fake grin fell to a confused expression as he looked out over Kaede's group. "... Huh?"

"Mr. Kuwata? Another familiar party member… hmm. Most intriguing..." Hifumi muttered, rubbing his chin. Akamatsu frowned. Kuwata? She didn't know anyone by that name, and the teen standing in front of them didn't mentally click with her like Tsumugi and Kaito had. What was so familiar about him, then? Kuwata, as he was apparently called, turned his focus to Hifumi, thinning his lips in a thick pout.

"Ah, shit… hey, Hifumi. And Mondo. And Celeste. Damn, that weirdo on the intercom got a lot of us, huh?"

Celeste brushed some of her long twisting hair to the side. "It would seem so indeed. Though I must wonder: why us specifically? After all, though we know each other and are all ultimates, we are hardly of the same caliber. We were surely picked for a reason," Ludernberg stated calmly, her ruby gaze shifting to Kaede. "I suspect whatever tie we have rings true for those we don't recognize as well. The question is what precisely we all have in common."

Akamatsu raised a finger as she spoke. "Uh, speaking of people we don't know, who are you?"

Kuwata seemed to balk at the comment. "Wait, seriously? You don't know who I am?"

"Should I…?" The pianist questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

"Mr. Leon Kuwata is something of a celebrity. Sports lacks the intrigue or depth of 2D, but even I heard his name once or twice before we met. He's the Ultimate Baseball Star." Hifumi explained, putting on a weirdly deep voice when he reached Leon's title and pushing up his glasses dramatically.

"Baseball star? Hey man, we should totally play a game!" Kaito said, shoving out a big thumbs up. Leon's face soured considerably. 

"Oh, no way, man! Screw baseball!" He angrily called back. Kaede took an involuntary step back, surprised by his sudden outburst.

"H-huh? But isn't baseball your talent? Why would you hate what you're good at?" 

The redhead scowled. "Look, I don't really want to get into that crap right now, alright? It's super uncool. Besides," Leon suddenly swapped to a flashy grin, striking a pose clearly trying way too hard to be natural. "I didn't get your name."

"Oh, I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. My friends here are-"

"Pianist, huh? Y'know, I'm a musician too! Piano's a bit old school for punk, but I could probably find something for you to do on my band! Maybe you could be like a cute mascot or something. Cool, right? How about it?" He interrupted thoughtlessly.

Kaede slowly frowned, her finger curling downward uncertainty. "Uh… that's… thanks, but I'm not really looking for something like that right now. I don't really do bands. Well, most of the time. Actually, I was hoping you'd found some other people besides us. Is there anyone else back there?" She segwayed as smoothly as she could manage. Leon visibly deflated, crossing his arms with a slight pout.

"... Alright, I guess you guys probably aren't psychos... Come on, they're backstage." He half-muttered as he turned and walked back behind the curtain without another word. 

Chiaki's lips quirked downward. "... I think you hurt his feelings."

Kaede crossed her arms defensively. "It's not like I meant to! Just- what was I supposed to say? 'A cute mascot'? Who says that to someone they just met?" She refuted hastily. A small sigh to her left made her turn.

"Leon, as it would seem. I would not concern myself with his feelings if I were you. He makes offers like that to practically every woman he meets. In a way, it would have been more insulting if he didn't," The gothic gambler dismissed. Picking her skirt up, she began following after her fellow ultimate, only taking a moment to glance back at the rest of the group. "Of course, I would not recommend taking anyone's feelings to heart. Doing so will only bring you pain in the end. Merely my own advice." With that, she too quickly disappeared behind the curtain, quickly joined by her pudgy sidekick. Kaede glanced around the room to gauge the others' reactions. To her relief, no one appeared to take Ludenberg's words to heart, each of her comrades displaying various levels of disapproval or at least neutrality. Kaito was without a doubt the most opposed.

"Where does she get off saying crap like that?" The Ultimate Astronaut bristled. He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, whatever. Guess we should probably follow her."

With a few mumbles of agreement, the group trickled through the heavy curtain shrouding the back of the stage. Once they slipped through, it wasn't long before they met up with the others Leon mentioned. Of course, as with every other interaction the Ultimate Pianist had that day, it was far from a normal meeting. The scene before them was one of the strangest Kaede had ever witnessed. Four lockers stood before them - or, rather, three lockers and a pile of scrap metal that vaguely resembled a locker if Kaede squinted. Half of it was scattered across the room in dozens of pieces that glinted faintly in the dim light. The other half stood seemingly entirely on its own determination not to fall, practically nothing more than a few shreds of steel that barely even resembled a human made structure anymore, let alone a rectangle. Desperately trying to reattach the beyond busted door was a ludicrously tall and muscular man in a suit and tie, his red eyes wide with panic and embarrassment as he pushed the bits of metal together to no avail. Behind him stood a slightly shorter man cloaked in a half-face mask and Celeste as the pair passively watched his attempts to repair the damage with cold and penetrating snakelike stares. Not far from them, Leon scratched his head in obvious bewilderment. Hifumi, as she probably should have expected, was still firmly attached to Ludernberg's hip, somehow managing to be almost as unsettling as the masked man whose gaze soon flicked to meet her own. The flash of recognition in his eyes was surely mirrored in her own in that moment. Kaede felt her spirits rise once more as the pair suddenly clicked in her mind just as her other friends did. "Gonta! Kiyo!"

The gentle giant perked up at his name, a wide, childlike grin spreading across his features upon seeing her. "Ah! Hey! Gonta really glad to see you, Kaede! Ah, but Gonta hope you not hurt. Voice on TV seems scary, though maybe ungentlemanly to judge book by cover."

Kaito's triumphant laugh rang out from next to her, the astronaut flashing the other two a thumbs up. "What's up, big guy!" He greeted Gonta enthusiastically. That energy seemed to drop considerably as he turned to Shinguji. "Uh, hey Kiyo. So, guess you guys are caught up in this crap too, eh?"

"Indeed," Shinguji's voice slithered through the air, the anthropologist closing his eyes as he held up a finger. "It's a pleasant surprise to encounter yet more familiar faces here. I cannot imagine how or why we have been gathered here… but I look forward to observing the beauty of my fellow ultimates' humanity regardless."

"Tch. Fuckin' weirdo…" Owada muttered under his breath, earning a warning glare from Kaede that made him thin his lips.

"He's not a bad guy, Mondo. He's just, uh… a little creepy. No offense." Tsumugi chided as she joined her fellow students, most of her already flimsy edge gone by the time she awkwardly apologized to Korekiyo. The man in question merely chuckled.

"Kehehe... none taken, Tsumugi. You are hardly the first or the last to call me such. Any care I might have had about that stopped long ago. I appreciate your defense," He assured. His gaze shifted to the gaggle of unfamiliar students, a hint of intrigue flashing in his eyes. "If I may be so bold, I'd like to learn your names and talents. I am Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist, as I've come to be known."

"Ah, right! Is gentlemanly to give introduction! Gonta is Gonta Gokuhara, Ultimate Entomologist!" The massive man quickly added. A series of introductions soon followed, swapping names and talents like trading cards at a tournament. Most kept theirs relatively brief, some merely stating their name and title before moving on while the more chatty members of the group struck up short conversations. The most notable exception had been Gundham, whose peculiar ranting seemed to fascinate Korekiyo as much as it completely baffled Gonta, though the latter found himself distracted by the Four Dark Devas peeking out from Tanaka's scarf. It was rather chaotic considering the fact that there were a dozen people all milling about, either exploring or holding often loud conversations with each other all at once or both, and considering the more eccentric characters in their midst, it sounded more like a hundred. Kaede's crew quickly split apart and found their own little cliques, leaving her, Korekiyo, Gonta, Leon, and Mondo, the former three hanging around their lockers whilst Mondo opted to lean against a crate. Kaede's eyes flicked across the heap of scrap metal near Gokuhara, raising an eyebrow as her curiosity once again peaking now that the rush of seeing old friends had worn off.

"So, um, what exactly happened there?" She asked, waving a hand in the direction of the rubble. Gonta cringed.

"Gonta sorry! Gonta's door had lock on it, so Gonta tried pushing harder, but…" The Ultimate Entomologist looked back to the absolutely shredded remains of the locker like a puppy caught chewing on wrapping paper. Shaking his head, he continued. "So Gonta tried fixing it. But… Gonta not really know how, so Gonta accidentally made it worse."

The red haired rocker scoffed, crossing his arms. "'Fix it'? Dude, you kicked the friggin' hinges off! No way anyone coulda fixed that!"

"Gonta know. Gonta very, very sorry he break locker."

Kaede gave him a soft smile, patting his arm. "It's okay, Gonta. I know you wouldn't hurt a fly. Or a locker."

Korekiyo glanced at the wrecked pile of metal and back to them. Something danced behind his glowing yellow eyes, but whatever he thought about it, Shinguji instead chose to change the topic. "... The circumstances of our awakening aside, there is a matter we've yet to discuss. I believe there is still another among us that has not yet revealed themselves. Have you noticed it yet?" The anthropologist questioned. Kaede followed his slithering gaze to the final of the four lockers. It was the only one still closed. She'd somehow managed to miss that detail at first, but now it was unmistakably odd.

"Huh? Why haven't they come out?" She wondered aloud. A quiet, airy snicker escaped Shinguji.

"Quite the curiosity, isn't it? Our captor said everyone had awoken, and yet this one remains hidden away. I suspect it's a matter of fear, personally. Fascinating to observe how much reactions vary in frightening circumstances…" He said, his mask pulling upwards with his smirk. Kaede hoped her grimace wasn't as obvious.

Mondo glared at him. "You ever think maybe it's 'cuz you're creepin' the fuck outta them?" He grumbled, drawing an odd look from the lanky student.

"... It has been said that merely observing something can change how it reacts, but as we both know that's not what you meant, I'll choose to let it slide for now," The snake-like student meticulously watched his tone as he spoke, allowing just enough venom to seep into his voice to make Mondo's gaze darken. Before Owada could retort, however, Kiyo made his way towards the locker. "Regardless, I believe this situation can still be remedied. Kaede, would you come here, please? Your assistance would be much appreciated in getting her out."

"'Her'?" Akamatsu echoed.

Shinguji nodded. "Yes. While Gonta was breaking through his locker, I heard a rather high pitched scream coming from beside me. While Leon has a peculiarly feminine screaming voice, there was a notably higher one as well. Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that whoever is inside that locker would have to be female. Wouldn't you agree, Gonta?"

Kuwata glared at him. "Hold up, are you saying I have a girly scream? That's bullshit, man!"

"How much you wanna bet on that?" Owada dared with a smirk.

Gokuhara, seeming to not notice Leon's distress, confirmed the anthropologist's claim, though he looked rather embarrassed at the reminder of his apparently dramatic entrance. "Um, Kiyo right. Gonta hear two girly screams. Oh… maybe she scared of Gonta? Gonta knows Gonta's face scary. Or maybe it Leon?"

"Hey! The hell's that for?" Leon called back indignantly, crossing his arms and pouting at the goliath of a man before them. Korekiyo chuckled softly beneath his mask. Kaede rolled her eyes at the three.

"Okay, guys? Maybe she's just shy. Three strong, weird looking guys-"

"Seriously, what did I do?!" Kuwata shouted. Akamatsu pointedly ignored the baseball star as she continued.

"-standing around in a strange place that she probably doesn't know or remember how she got to, and locked in a dark locker to boot? I'd probably be scared too. Just… back up a little, okay? Let me try," Kaede intructed, physically shooing the boys away from the locker. Mondo similarly had to be corralled away despite his insistence that he could help, reluctantly striking up conversation with Chiaki and Kaito a few feet away after Akamatsu threatened to have Gonta put him in the corner. Once she was sure they were all sufficiently far away, she glanced through the small air vent. While there was definitely an outline of a person, she couldn't make out any details other than confirming Korekiyo's guess that they were a woman from their long hair. 

Akamatsu pulled the door open slowly, giving an encouraging smile to the shaking girl inside. It was hard to make out any features in the poorly lit prison, but she could still see how the shorter figure flinched at her arrival. Shy? Okay, she could still work with that. "Hey, it's okay!" She called out, only to cringe when her target shrunk even further back at the loud noise. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Two large eyes finally found the nerve to look back to hers. "... P-promise? Ah! S-sorry! I-I shouldn't doubt you like that! Please don't hate me!" A meek and high pitched voice cried out in clear panic, her barely visible eyes widening fearfully before slamming shut.

"I- what? No, I don't hate you!" The blonde quickly corrected, bafflement and concern forming a cocktail of emotional uncertainty. _ "What kind of person begs a stranger not to hate them for being scared? What's this poor girl been through?" _ She grimly theorized. On the outside, however, she returned to her gentle smile. "... And yeah, I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I want to be friends."

The other girl's eyes widened once again, but she was pleased to see a glint of hope rather than fear in them. "F-friends? With… me?" The girl all but whispered. Kaede's comforting smile grew, giving a confirming nod. "Oh, t-thank you! Nobody ever wants to be friends with me! S-so thank you for wanting to not hate me!"

Kaede had to fight off the troubled pout that tugged at her lips. _ "'Thank you for wanting to not hate me'...? We have GOT to work on her confidence. I'm pretty sure she'll start crying if I say that, though…" _

Slowly, almost like the girl wasn't entirely sure if Kaede would leap out and attack her at any moment, the apprehensive ultimate tiptoed towards the door. The closer she got, the more Kaede could see the infinitely small upward quirk of the girl's lips as she approached. "Um… would it be alright if I could remember your name?"

"Of course. I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. And you are…?"

"M-my name is Mik-EEEEP!" Before she could finish her shy introduction, however, a shrill cry interrupted the conversation. A startled shout escaped both of them before getting cut off by a grunt as the pair hit the ground. Kaede let out a second one as something landed hard on top of her. She groaned a little, pain flaring in her body in response to the unexpected tackling. That was the last thing her mind was focused on at that moment, however. The thing that currently had her full attention was the girl that had landed _ exceptionally _ close to her. Wide greyish purple eyes locked with her magenta ones, not more than a few centimeters from her own. Her skin would have been very fair if not for the intense blush spreading across her face, the heat radiating off of her fiercely enough for Kaede to be able to feel it. Then again, considering they were nearly nose to nose, that likely wasn't all that surprising. Kaede's face was positively on fire as she stared up at the other girl's. Of all the words in the world, she knew 'cute' likely shouldn't have been the first to come to mind, and yet it was. The way that scarlet danced across her cheeks, her eggplant purple hair cascading down around her like a curtain, a nose the size of a button… the word fit her to a tee. Akamatsu had always been rather open and playful about those who caught her gaze, for better or worse, but suddenly being _ this _ close to someone that was checking her boxes left her completely and utterly mortified. It didn't help that the girl's… _ considerable _ chest was completely flush with her own. 

"I-um-I-please help-" She stammered uselessly, too taken aback by what was happening. The Ultimate Pianist could hardly believe it was real. It was like reality itself had been taken over by some trope-obsessed manga artist. 

The moment couldn't have lasted more than a second despite the eternity that seemed to pass before the stranger shrieked again and desperately pulled herself off of Kaede. "Eeeep! S-sorry! I tripped! Sorry! I-I'm SO sorry! Oh, why does this always have to happen?!" She fretted, tears in her eyes as her hands rung themselves a mile a minute. After a moment, a look of horror dawned on the shy mess of a woman's face. "O-oh no! I-I didn't hurt you, d-did I? You can hit me if I did!"

For a moment, all of Kaede's embarrassment and surprised attraction vanished. "I already promised I wouldn't hurt you, didn't I?" The maestro questioned rhetorically with a small frown. Grunting a little, she pulled herself back to her feet before looking down at the teary eyed teen that was still sprawled out on the ground. She offered a hand. "Really, it's okay. Friends forgive friends, and that's what I want us to be. Alright?"

The painfully shy girl gazed up at her as if she was looking at heaven itself. "I-I… hehehe… ah! Sorry, it's just… nobody's ever been this nice to me. It makes me feel so happy that I just wanna laugh! B-but I can stop if that's w-weird, or annoying, or…" She trailed off again, the almost joyous twinkle in her eyes instantly swapping back to the terrified misery that seemed to be her default. After some gentle encouragement from Kaede assuring her that it would be alright, the still unnamed ultimate reluctantly took Kaede's hand and shakingly rose up to her feet. "T-thank you again… oh, um… sorry, I never actually told you my name like you asked. Sorry… but, um, if you still want to know it… my name is Mikan Tsumiki. I'm, um, the Ultimate Nurse. From the bottom of my heart, I hope we can get along..."

_ "Finally, a name. I can stop just calling her 'that girl'." _Akamatsu silently mused. Her gentle smile brightened, a little more genuine now that Tsumiki didn't look like she was going to collapse if the wind blew too hard. "It's great to meet you, Mikan. And don't worry, we're all going to be the best of friends! I'm sure of it!"

"You… really think so? Hehehe… I would really like that…" Tsumiki giggled, finally looking something close to relaxed. Kaede's soft and encouraging beam didn't fade until she suddenly felt the distinct sensation of being watched. The pianist turned to find nearly every pair of eyes in the room on her and Mikan, and more than a few faces speckled with red. Why were they blush- _ oh _. The horrified gasp from next to her made it clear Mikan realized exactly the same thing Kaede did. "O-oh no! They saw me, a-and you, and- oh, this is so e-embarassing!" The nurse cried out.

“Aww, that’s so cute! It reminds me of this one show...” Tsumugi gushed.

Hifumi hummed, rubbing his chin. “Not really a fan of 3D ships, but if this were 2D, I’d ship it.” 

Even as she felt her own face flare up like a furnace, Kaede scowled disapprovingly at her fellow ultimates. "Hey! It's rude to stare at people! Especially when they're shy!" The pianist shamed harshly. It was a cold comfort that they awkwardly went back to their conversations, leaving the two red-faced ultimates to their business. Mikan looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide for the rest of her life, tears slipping past her clamped-shut eyelids. Akamatsu frowned. She hesitated for a second before gently taking the other girl's hand, Mikan's eyes shooting open in surprise at the contact. "See? It's alright. You don't have to worry about what other people think. If you're confident in yourself, then-"

"My, my! Is that you, Mikan? It must've been the soiree of a lifetime last night if you of all people got yourself a girl wrapped around your finger!" A new voice whistled out from behind. Terror suddenly seemed to grip the Ultimate in question.

"A-ah! T-Teruteru, i-it's not anything like that! I… I…" Mikan sputtered out, face red as a tomato. Kaede turned to find that more people had joined them. A giant woman, probably just barely shorter than Gonta and just as muscular, stood like a monolith next to a portly boy dressed like a stereotypical chef. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the withering glare she was sending him. Teruteru, as Mikan had addressed him, was too busy looking at them like they were a pair of fine steaks, much to her discomfort. 

"H-huh?! No, I was just helping her out!" She pleaded before she realized _ wait, why is she explaining herself like _ ** _she _ ** _ did something wrong? _ Before she could voice as much, though, the athletic one spoke up.

"I already gave you a warning, Teruteru. You want to see what it's like when I'm not holding back?" A deep voice rumbled, her silver eyes glinting like knives. The color seemed to drain out of the oddly dressed boy before a nervous, somewhat cocky smirk took its place.

"Under the right circumstances, that’d sound like a good time to me, Sakura..." Teruteru retorted, still trying to come across as suave even despite the cold sweat he'd broken into. The comment was like someone had slammed their fist down on a bunch of minor keys after already screwing up a major-scale melody; a sharp and distractingly bad end to an already poor performance. Akamatsu could tell her expression must have fallen to a stern pout from the sudden anxious muttering of the Ultimate Nurse, the girl most likely trying to rationalize some way for Kaede's bad mood to be her fault if their interactions thus far had proven anything. Just as she was about to lay into him, yet another voice cut her off.

"Mister Hanamura, I must insist that you refrain from such comments. I cannot be held accountable for what may happen to you if you don't," The third and final member of the trio called out as they stepped through the curtain. Kirumi's ever-pristine uniform was as sharp as her gaze while her lips were pursed tightly, clearly struggling to maintain a polite attitude. Her piercing emerald eye bore into Teruteru warningly for a moment, her words causing yet more small beads of sweat to form on his forehead, before flicking to the group. Any possible doubt about the Ultimate's identity disappeared in that moment as whatever mental block they had to each other's existence vanished, instantly replaced by a flood of unfamiliar familiarity. The maid blinked once before giving a small incline of her head. "... I see these are the others the announcement mentioned. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew, but it's nice to see you again, Miss Akamatsu."

Kaede beamed. "Kirumi! You too! Er, well, it would be if we weren't kidnapped… you know what I mean."

Tojo gave a crisp nod. "True, the circumstances of our meeting are rather poor. I fail to see their objective, however. I can't imagine why our captors would use such a large facility if they intended to ransom us. Whoever's gathered us here clearly isn't concerned with keeping us restrained either. It's… troubling."

"No matter who is responsible, there's got to be an exit. That much is certain." A low voice countered as the significantly taller girl approached them with Teruteru in toe.

"Ah, Sakura, right? I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, and this is Mikan, the Ultimate Nurse. Oh, and Mikan, this is my friend Kirumi."

Sakura bowed her head slightly. "I am Sakura Ogami. I have claimed the title of the Ultimate Martial Artist." The towering woman said. Kaede waited to see if she would elaborate on it at all. When no such response came, the pink-clad student asked her what exactly it entailed. "I am proficient in nearly all forms of martial arts. Judo, aikido, and taekwondo are among them. It has granted me immense physical and mental strength."

"Wow! That's amazing! You must be incredible to watch in a fight!" Kaede enthused. Her shy companion was notably less thrilled with it.

"U-um… s-sorry to question you, but do you get hurt often? Fighting's pretty dangerous, a-and a lot of the time, people don't even realize they're hurt and end up making it worse…" The purple-haired RN warned through stutters and whimpers. An acknowledging hum rumbled from the martial artist.

"Part of my training was recognizing when to stop fighting. Trust me, I can tell if I am injured. You do not need to worry." 

Mikan's slightly disapproving frown remained, but her sudden burst of confidence seemed to dry up as she quietly let the subject drop. After a few more pleasantries, Kirumi departed to meet with the other Ultimates. Sakura initially moved to join her, but hesitated unexpectedly, her silver gaze seeming unable to leave Teruteru. Kaede raised a finger questioningly. "Uh… Sakura? Is everything alright?"

The combat expert glanced briefly at her. "I'm trying to decide if I should risk leaving him alone with someone else. I do not trust him."

The shortest Ultimate present smirked at her. "Oh, Sakura, you wound me. I'm just a man of passion that wants to share it with the world. Why wouldn't you be able to trust me?" He asked in a tone like over sugared tea. She didn't even know his full name yet, but he somehow still managed to make her stomach turn like no-one else she could remember meeting. Truth be told, she wasn't exactly eager to meet him, but a part of her too big to simply ignore insisted on giving him a chance. Faking a small smile, she spoke.

"It'll be fine. You can go and talk with the others. It's just an introduction, right? Nothing wrong with getting to know someone."

Teruteru's smirk deepened. "Oh, I couldn't agree more with that…" He muttered to himself skeevily, making her fight off a tug downwards at her lips. 

_ "Just an introduction. Swap names and talents, and that'll be it…" _Kaede chanted the mantra over and over in her mind as if it were a spell she could make come true.

Sakura was silent for a few seconds before bowing her head. "I will be near. Don't make me regret this, Teruteru…" She warned icily, slowly walking away from the remaining trio. 

He watched her carefully as if he were a mouse waiting for a cat to leave the room. Once Sakura was sufficiently far away, he turned to Kaede fully. Despite her poor first impressions of him, she couldn't help but notice the fact that he'd clearly taken a punch recently if the mark on his face was anything to go by with some concern. Even despite the sickly pinkish-red bruising on his left eye, the short boy flashed her a lurid smirk. "Enchanté, ma chérie. The name's Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Chef, but that's enough about me. I'd much rather get acquainted with _ you _." He dropped his tone as deep as he could manage, giving a wink. Kaede's skin crawled.

"Um… I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. It's… nice to meet you." She lied through her teeth. His smirk grew even more unsettling at that.

"Pianist, eh? I love a girl who's good with her fingers. There's something to be said for music to set the mood, too."

Akamatsu's artificial smile dropped as her face hardened. "Excuse me?!"

"Um, Teruteru, that's really not…" Mikan mumbled only to be promptly ignored.

Teruteru didn't show even a hint of shame. "What can I say? I call 'em like I see 'em. Tall, pretty thing like you and a talent benefiting of a socialite to boot? Oh, yes… I _ very _ much like what I'm seeing. Maybe you and me could do a little duet together under your skir-" Kaede's hand slammed against his face before he could finish, a sharp _ thwap _ resonating from the impact. A bright red hand print joined his fresh black eye as Kaede glared daggers into the chef. She was all but snarling at him at this point, her trademark patience quickly evaporated by Hanamura's antics. The boy blinked at her in clear shock. For a fleeting moment, she thought maybe he realized what just happened and why he had it coming. Those hopes were dashed to pieces as a thin trickle of blood ran down from his nose and he beamed at her. "... Heh, that actually isn't half bad. Between you and Sakura, maybe I'll get a thing for girls hitting me. You mind trying that again, a little harder this time?" He asked delightedly. Akamatsu's face slowly morphed into disgusted horror.

"I- what is wrong with you?!" She shouted incredulously.

He gave a small shrug, reaching into a pocket and casually pulling out a comb. "Heh. They all say that at first, but it never takes that long to get them singing a different tune either. I know how to spot a freak in the sheets from a mile away, and boy, you've gotta be among the freakiest if you're managing to press Mikan's buttons. All I'm saying is, be it food or love, I only serve and eat the best. So, do you want to make some sweet, sweet music?" He cooed. Kaede felt simultaneously like slapping him senseless and making sure she was never, _ ever _within earshot of this man again.

Before she could piece together a reply between her shock and disgust, Kaede watched as Teruteru was suddenly hoisted up by the scruff of his shirt by someone she hadn't noticed approaching. He let out a startled yelp as he suddenly found himself with a very pissed off Mondo Owada. "HEY YOU PIECE 'A SHIT! THINK YOU CAN TREAT GIRLS LIKE THAT?! I'LL FUCKIN' BURY YOU!" The biker roared, face red with anger. Tsumiki gave a terrified shriek and sputtered out at least a dozen apologies, desperately hiding behind her arms. All hints of color drained from Hanamura's face in an instant. 

"H-h-hey now! It ain't like that, Ah swear! Promise!" He squealed out, flailing helplessly in Mondo's grip. The orange haired outlaw bared his teeth at him, presumably having another vicious condemnation on the tip of his tongue when a pointed clearing of the throat caught their attention. Kaede, broken from her trance, turned to find Kirumi fixing the boys with an even stare as she approached.

"Gentlemen. While there is certainly no excuse for Mister Hanamura's… _ comments _," Tojo said forcefully, her visible eye narrowing at the Ultimate in question. "I cannot condone violence. Mister…?"

"Owada." He gruffed out.

"Mister Owada, put Mister Hanamura down, if you would please. I'd prefer if we could resolve this without further needless roughness." The maid implored steadily. Neither her expression nor her tone betrayed any sign of hesitation or self-concern despite the significantly taller and muscle-bound man still looking ready to kill someone. Shaking the last of her stunned state away, Kaede stepped forward.

"Kirumi's right. Even if he's a massive creep, we should still try to work together for now. And he's going to be on his best behavior from now on and not say anything even remotely like that to me or anyone else again. _ Right _ , Teruteru?" The pianist declared with a withering glare that _ dared _the portly chef to try refusing her olive branch. He only hesitated for half a moment before vigorously nodding.

"Y-yeah! That's absolutely right, Miss Akamatsu! I-I'd never dream of it!"

A beat passed in silence. Then another. It hit a third before Mondo's fierce expression finally softened a little. Of course, that was like saying that a bloodthirsty tiger looked slightly less murderous. "... Tch. You're real fuckin' lucky I give a shit today. If I ever even _ think _of you pulling this bullshit again, I'll rip you the fuck in half. Got it?" Teruteru sputtered out a barely intelligible affirmation just as Mondo dropped him to the ground carelessly, making him fall on his ass and quickly scamper away from Kaede and her unexpected defender. He was shockingly fast given sufficient motivation, vanishing almost instantly into the crowd of clamoring Ultimates. Of course, from the way Sakura's face darkened as she began marching towards some unseen destination made it clear Hanamura's suffering wasn't over quite yet. The pianist's own attempts to track him were half-hearted at best, mostly just glad to no longer have to deal with the Ultimate Chef's antics. 

"Geez…" She trailed off, her voice as quiet as it was exasperated. The pianist shook her head. "Well, uh, thanks, Mondo. Hopefully that'll give him something to think about."

Kirumi sighed a little. "Unfortunately, given my admittedly short time with him so far, I doubt that." 

Mondo defaulted back to a somewhat annoyed scowl as his arms crossed. "My bro woulda kicked his goddamn teeth in for sayin' half of that. Piece of shit… just thinkin' of that dude is pissin' me off… huh?" Owada's rant abruptly cut off as the sound of quiet sniveling rang out from next to her. Kaede turned to find Mikan weeping yet again, hugging herself tightly.

"Mikan? What's wrong?"

The nurse visibly flinched at her name. "I-I'm sorry! This is my fault! He's probably acting like this b-because he saw me a-and Kaede- oh!" She rubbed at her puffy red eyes. The pianist struggled to suppress a sigh.

"It's really not your fault-"

"Fuckin' right it's not! Not like you asked that guy to be a goddamn creep. Don't blame yourself for his shit!" Mondo declared. Unfortunately, his supportive words only seemed to make the shy girl curl further into herself with a small whimper. "Huh? Hey, stop crying! I'm not angry at you!"

Kaede frowned at him, shaking her head a little. "Mondo, that's not really helping right now. You're freaking her out." She said firmly. He rose a hand.

"I wasn't…" The biker trailed off as he looked over the shivering nurse, gradually hanging his head and resting his hands on his hips. "... Fuck. Look, I'm sorry. I just… damn it. Say somethin' if he starts up again. Later..." He grumbled dejectedly as he turned and walked away. Kaede couldn't help but feel her frown deepen. Mondo definitely didn't seem like a bad guy, but his unfettered temper and propensity for violence were troubling to say the least. Even if Teruteru probably had it coming, considering how much Mondo startled her and Mikan when they were just observing, she couldn't help but picture what it would've felt like for the boy in question, a small pang of empathy for the cook hitting her in that moment. She mentally filed it next to Mikan's… Mikan-ness and Chiaki's more negative eccentricities on the list of people to help. After several minutes of both Akamatsu and Tojo assuring her that no, everything was not in fact her fault, Mikan finally seemed to settle at least a little. Once she was sufficiently calm, Kaede encouraged her to go meet with the other Ultimates, much to the other girl's fretting. It was only with a smile as bright as the sun and a promise that it would be okay did the nurse finally agree to do it.

So of course that would be the moment the lights went out and the room was swallowed by pure darkness. 

The more easily rattled among them screamed, naturally. Mikan and Hifumi were expected, but a panicked yell that sounded suspiciously like Kaito was not. It lasted only for a couple seconds before dim red light bulbs flickered on in unison with a dull hum, bathing the room in crimson, but it was enough to put everyone on edge. Kaede could see the Ultimate Astronaut practically bear hugging a rather annoyed looking Peko in the faint light, the swordswoman deftly shoving him off with a steely glare. Realizing the lights were back on, he quickly shifted into a stance far too natural to actually _ be _natural given the circumstances, apparently opting to pretend that never happened. "Uh… what the hell just happened?" Kaito called out. Several voices shared the same sentiment in hushed mutterings. Before anyone could offer an answer, a high-pitched metallic screech roared from seemingly everywhere, as if the air itself was screaming at them. Kaede slammed her hands over her ears as they exploded into pain. 

** _"Unauthorized entry detected! Unauthorized entry detected!"_ ** A robotic voice howled out over the blaring alarm. Kaede grit her teeth and cursed her specialized hearing for letting her hear the godawful racket clear as day through her makeshift earmuffs. Shining white flashes sparked from the ceiling every few seconds, making the room alternate between blindingly bright white and disorientingly dark red. It was an eyesore to be sure, but it wasn't enough to distract her from the distinctive _ whir _ of the walls once again shifting. Instead of TVs, however, the pianist and her comrades suddenly found themselves almost completely surrounded by what looked to be _ flamethrowers _ . Fear swelled in her chest as she took an involuntary step back, putting her hands out in front of her defensively. ** _"Access to this location has not been granted by the Captain! Vacate immediately or be eliminated!"_ ** It warned. One of the weapons pointed up and spit fire into the air for emphasis, the scorching heat bristling Kaede's skin even from several feet away. The group's previously uncertain mumbles had instantly been replaced by terrified screams.

"Everyone! Run!" Akamatsu called out as loudly as she could manage. She could barely hear it herself over the pandemonium that had taken over the room, but it had thankfully served to kick start some of her friends into fleeing and that in turn caused a mass exodus. Sixteen sets of footfalls created a road almost as deafening as the alarm itself as the Ultimates erupted from backstage in a mad scramble. Kaede had ended up towards the front, but aside from Mikan, who was clinging to her arm with a vice grip, she had little idea where everyone else was in relation to her. Spotting the entrance at the end of the ballroom, she quickly started to formulate a plan as she called out, "Get to the door!" 

Leon tore ahead, a red and white blur as he charged towards the entrance with Peko and Sakura on his heels. Kaede probably would have been impressed with her peers' incredible speed if she weren't also running for her life at that moment. The trio of athletes were nearly at the door when the walls once again flipped over and revealed an array of intimidating turrets that quickly let out an angry electronic buzz, presumably their first and last warning. She nearly tripped as she haphazardly skidded to a stop and the blonde desperately scanned the room for another exit. Her heart sank as she confirmed that _ yes _ , the door completely surrounded by all kinds of death machines was in fact the only escape from the _ other _death machines. Her heart was hammering in her chest with a growing sense of panic. Her eyes flicked over the equally terrified faces of the others. Even the more stoic among them had trepidation dancing in their eyes amidst the growing chaos of the ballroom, only Korekiyo seeming to be not at least a little intimidated. The guns followed their every movement, freezing them in place. It wasn't long before a chorus of discordant voices roared to life. 

"The fuck is going on?!"

"Eeeeeeep! I'm sorry! Please don't shoot meeeeee!"

"Everybody behind Gonta! Gonta protect everyone!" 

"Dark magic twists this realm against us! Reveal yourself, foul sorcerer, or face the unbridled wrath of Tanaka the Forbidden One and his Four Dark Devas!"

"Such desperosity… humanity is so beautiful!"

This was spiraling out of control _ fast _. She had to do something immediately or risk the group completely collapsing. "Guys! Stay calm! I don't know what's going on, but we have to keep together!" 

In that moment, the devil himself appeared."What’s that? You don’t know what’s going on? Puhuhuhu… shouldn't that much be obvious by now? You're a lot slower on the uptake than I remember. Then again, considering what you've been through, I guess I can't blame you for getting a bit rusty!" A cartoonish voice chastised from behind. 

The assembled Ultimates swirled as one towards the source of the noise just in time to witness a steak of pyrotechnics shooting into the air by the stage three times, one after another and each shorter than the last, before a mess of black and white shot into the air like a rocket. When it finally landed, it took a couple seconds for her to compute that it was a small teddy bear, one half as bright as fresh snow and the other dark as a moonless night sky with a horrid red slash that passed for an eye. Rows of mechanic teeth shifted into a mocking grin that sent shivers down her spine and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. His horrid eyes seemed to stare directly into her as he spoke. "Sorry to keep you _ hanging _, Kaede, but I wanted to make sure everyone got here first! It's a bit of a pain to do the same explanation again and again and again because some brat wanted to investigate every scrap of wallpaper, you know?" He joked, his voice swapping between dark and malicious sarcasm and perfect cheeriness far too smoothly to ever be close to normal.

Kaede's blood turned to ice. She knew that bear. She didn't know how, or from where, but she knew that her stomach dropped at the sight of him. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to run as far and as fast as she could, yet she found herself frozen in place. Her mind raced a mile a minute for any explanation of the unsettling creature before her, but each and every time, only one slithering word found its way into her tongue. It finally tumbled out of her mouth like a bottle of poison that finally toppled to the floor before she could even hope to understand what it truly meant.

"M-Monokuma?!"

Monokuma cackled as winked at the terrified teenagers. "Yep, that’s me! Your lovable and iconic headmaster! And if it isn't sixteen of my finest pupils! Puhuhuhu!" The fluffy devil laughed out. His selfish grin somehow seemed to grow larger at their mutual panic. "Aw, I missed you guys too! It's been waaaaaay too long!"

Owada took a challenging step forward with a face twisted in sheer rage. "The fuck are you doing here?!"

The bear tilted his head innocently, raising a paw to his chin. "Hmm? Whaddya mean what am I doing here? This is my ship! Shouldn't I be the one asking you guys why you're loitering around on my property?"

A stunned silence overtook the room. Even Mikan and Hifumi's screams softened into whimpers at the robot's words. The room became quiet enough to hear a pin drop. After a few seconds, the soft clicking of shoes delicately falling on hardwood drew every pair of eyes in the room to Kirumi Tojo. She was the very picture of calm even as she approached the devil himself, her face measured and voice even. If it weren't for how tightly her hands were balled into fists, Kaede might have believed the Ultimate Maid was truly fearless. "Pardon me," She began, managing to look Monokuma in his mismatched eyes. "But did you just say that we're in a ship? _ Your _ship, to be precise?"

"Yes indeed! Each and every one of you are passengers aboard my pride and joy, the Despair of the Seas! It's a very exclusive honor to get aboard, you know!" He boasted.

Kaito scowled at the bear, crossing his arms. "Yeah, right. How the hell is anything involving you an honor?"

"Why, because in order to get on this ship, each and every one of you had to murder someone!"

If the room had been quiet before, it was dead silent now. Kaede felt… nothing. Absolute numbness overtook her body. The words didn't seem real. Nothing did. Not even the cold dread pooling in her gut like tar could fully distract her from how detached she felt at that moment. It was as if she were watching someone else's story on TV. 

"... Murder someone…?" She murmured numbly, staring at the monochrome ursine in incomprehension. A guttural growl broke out from behind her just before Mondo rushed past her in a black and orange blur.

"Fuckin' bullshit! The only one getting murdered by me is you, you worthless goddamn-"

Monokuma tsked at Mondo like a haughty teacher as he shook a claw at him mockingly. "Ah ah ah! Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed! If you wanna die during this little voyage of mutual killing, at least wait until it actually starts!" His high-pitched voice instructed. A mechanical whirl preceded two machine guns suddenly dropping from the ceiling and locking onto the Ultimate Biker, stopping him in his tracks. Monokuma's grin grew dark. "I'd just _ hate _to lose one of my star students right off the bat."

Kaede's senses shot back into her like a slap in the face as she quickly gathered her strength and joined by Mondo's side and grabbed his arm to pull him back. "No one's dying today! I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, Monokuma, but I would never kill anyone, and neither would anyone else here!" She declared, pointing a finger at him with her unoccupied hand. The bear simply sighed.

"What are you talking about? The one thing all of you have in common is that you committed the biggest crime of all! Do you think I'd be stupid enough to get my blackened and spotless mixed up?!"

"What does that even mean? You know what, whatever! I'm not a murderer! I don't believe you! Right guys?" Kaede sharply refused as she let go of Owada's arm and turned to her fellow students. A chorus of agreements greeted her.

"No way in hell, man! That bear's crazy!"

"Gonta is Gentleman! Gentleman never harm anybody!"

“There’s no way an upstanding young citizen like me would ever do something like that!”

"Yep, that's right… I think."

"To take an innocent life is beyond forgiveness. I would sooner die than do something so cowardly." Sakura's rumbling voice hardly needed raising to be heard around the room.

"I-I could never k-kill someone! T-that's too horrible to even think about!" Mikan sputtered out between sobs as tears streaking down her face from the mere accusation.

"Thousands have perished in battle against the Tanaka empire… but a lowly murder is a mortal's game."

Even most of those that didn't vocally respond at least gave an approving nod or hum. Flashing them a supportive grin, she swirled back to Monokuma with hands on her hips. "Well, Monokuma? What do you have to say about that?" She confidently challenged. The robot stared blankly at her.

"... Are you guys serious? Did you just pretend to know each other earlier or what? Messing with people is only fun when I'm the one doing it, you guys…"

Tsumugi's voice piped up unexpectedly. "Ah! How did you know about that? You weren't anywhere near us!"

Their kidnapper groaned, the long and irritating buzz of a mechanical monster hissing through a voice box. "Uuuuuuugh! I told you, this is my ship! I know _ everything _that happens on here! You know, the way things have worked since the very first killing game?!"

"Hmm… it would seem Monokuma has knowledge we do not. If I may be so presumptuous, I assume we met during these supposed killing games? I believe I would have remembered encountering my peers, not to mention yourself, yet it all seems so… half formed. A curious phenomenon to be certain…" Korekiyo proposed with clear intrigue. Kaede raised an uncertain eyebrow as she glanced back at the anthropologist. Something as dire as missing memories and accusations of murder were a lot more than a 'curious phenomenon' for crying out loud!

"Ding ding ding! Everyone give it up for Mr. Shinguji, clearly the smartest one out of all of you! Of course, seeing as how he still managed to forget the whole reason you're all here, that doesn't really say much."

Pekoyama's tone was as sharp as the sword Kaede imagined rested below the woman's plain sheath. "You keep talking in circles. Explain yourself." 

Monokuma was clearly irate at this point. Serrated steel popped out of his only black fist, glittering in the light dangerously. "_ Like I said _, you guys are all former participants of grand games of life and death. You know, murders, trials, general despairing mayhem? Ringing any bells?"

"No, because none of us are or ever will be murderers!" Akamatsu spat out through gritted teeth. "No one's falling for your dumb game!"

"You sound like a broken record. Didn't you say that last time, too? Yet here you are!" He complained, putting his paws on his nonexistent hips disapprovingly.

"What _ last time _?! Stop screwing around!" Momota demanded as he joined Mondo and pumped a fist towards their supposed headmaster. To their surprise, Monokuma simply giggled. The astronaut slammed his fists together as if it would send the bear flying. "HEY! WE ASKED YOU A QUESTION, ASSHOLE!"

"Oh, that's right. Silly, silly me. I thought you were joking around, but you're all way too dedicated for this to be an act. You guys probably haven't got all your memories back yet, right?" Monokuma sighed, looking down shamefully. "Typical. Trust your cubs to do one simple job, and they'll half-ass the most important part of it. Shame on me for trusting those little brats again…” The heartless headmaster's grin disappeared, an almost solemn look dawning on his features. "This won’t do. It seems that something really bad must’ve happened to your memories while being transferred here. You’re all supposed to be paranoid about each other’s pasts! How can I have a good killing game if none of you can even remember what you did to get here? If I just left you all as is, the game would be un-bear-ably boring!”

“Another bear pun. I do unfortunately remember you being fond of those, for what little it’s worth.” Ludenberg grumbled tersely. Her comment went entirely unnoticed by everyone else as Monokuma's wicked grin slowly started to spread across his face.

"Oh well! This handy dandy little tool oughta help jog your noggins!" He merrily declared as he snapped his not-fingers. A somewhat long stick fell from the ceiling and into his paw before he pointed it at the sixteen ultimates. It looked a little bit like a flashlight, but the pure menace that it's owner exuded was enough to make it a clear threat. Kaede's eyes became as wide as saucers as she took a step back.

"What are you-?!"

Monokuma clicked the switch on the device, and Kaede Akamatsu's world exploded into blinding white.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TL;DR version:  
\- Leon gets dunked on  
\- Korekiyo is creepy but helpful  
\- Leon gets dunked on again  
\- Mikan is Mikan  
\- Teruteru gets destroyed by Sakura and Mondo  
\- Monokuma dabs on everyone with the truth
> 
> Next time is the official start of Chapter 1!  
-MrCynical


	3. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Daily Life Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede remembers, and she'd give anything to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay! This took a little longer to figure out some of the specifics of, as well as fine tuning the first murder for a little later. It'll be a bit before that, in true Dangan fashion, but the bodies will hit the floor soon enough!  
-MrCynical

In one horrible, agonizing second, it all came flooding back to her. Waking up in a locker. Meeting the others. The announcement of the killing game. The time limit. Shuichi's plan. Grabbing the shot put ball. Rantaro, dead and bleeding on the floor. Shuichi exposing her lie. Sobbing out her final wish. The noose around her neck getting tighter and tighter and tighter until it digs into her skin and it hurts _ hurtshurts _ ** _hurts-_ **

A choked sob escaped her as she vaguely registered falling to her knees, tears swarming her vision and turning it into a bunch of watery smudges. She couldn't breathe. Her hands desperately pulled at a rope that wasn't there anymore, but she could still feel it digging into her throat and choking the life out of her second by second. She wanted it to stop, would do anything to make it stop, yet it refused. The bit of air she could feel slipping into her lungs was like smoke, making her cough and sputter for oxygen between sobs that shook her entire body. A century could have passed without her noticing. Even when the nightmarish pain ever so slowly began to fade away, her weeping only worsened.

_ "Oh Kaede, it never dawned on you? As soon as that thought entered your head, Monokuma had you right where he wanted, because what mattered most to Monokuma was that the killing game started. Regardless of your reasons, the moment you felt the urge to kill, you had already lost. You agreed to be part of this killing game when you allowed murder to fill your heart!" _ Kokichi had all too happily declared without a hint of pity in his eyes. Good. He was right, after all. Kaede Akamatsu murdered one of her classmates in cold blood. She promised that she would save them all, and she was the _ first one _ to kill. Disgusted couldn't even come close to describing how she felt. Hypocrite couldn't touch the level of betrayal she subjected her friends to. She failed everyone. She was absolutely vile. She was a **murderer**. She-

A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. Someone was speaking to her, a gruff voice laced with heavy concern, but she couldn't really hear them. Not over her own frantic heartbeat. With her vision awash, all she could make out when she turned was a blur of lavender. They were still talking, a part of her recognized. Heedless of whatever the figure was actually saying, she could only quietly murmur, "I killed him. I killed Rantaro. I… I…" They stopped. The only noise she could hear was the pounding in her ears. Akamatsu crumpled into herself as her hands covered her face. "I… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. He… Rantaro's dead. I'm dead. That- that should have been it! Why am I here?! Was… was it not enough?!"

"HEY!" The voice finally shouted loud enough for her to discern. Startled, her head snapped back up. Kaede wiped her aching eyes until the tears parted enough for her to see a slightly disheveled Kaito before her. His eyes were fierce yet sympathetic, like a doctor trying to calm a panicking patient. She stared up at him dumbly but silent. Apparently satisfied, he continued, his tone a little softer. "I know. It… it doesn't matter right now. Just breathe, alright?" Momota instructed. The pianist took a few shuddering breaths, trying to ignore how alien the sensation felt. The ache in her chest hadn't gone away, but she pushed through it. Calm would be the wrong word to describe her at that moment, but she was certainly more lucid. Kaito offered a hand that she shakily took. As soon as she was on her feet, however, a grim realization struck her. She clamped her eyes shut and grit her teeth.

"... I wasn't the only killer, was I? Monokuma isn't lying…" The blonde leader's question was more of a statement. Kaito's deafening silence confirmed the bitter truth she already knew. Her eyes opened, boring into the Ultimate Astronaut. "... Did you…" Was all she could manage. He opened his mouth for a moment as if he was going to respond only to close it again, unable to meet her gaze. The grief and self-loathing she felt churned and transformed into anger. "Answer me, Kaito! Did you kill someone?!"

His lips pressed into a thin line. "... Yeah. Yeah, I did."

She felt sick. Kaede turned from him, ignoring his pleas to hear him out. Her eyes scanned over the room and her fellow Ultimates. It was pure chaos. Mikan, Teruteru, Leon, and Gonta were openly bawling, distressed wails emanating from them like a macabre bird song. Tsumugi and Kirumi were deathly pale whilst Mondo and Peko were rigid as statues. The rest that she could see managed to hide it better than the others, but not by much. Some had fallen to their knees like she had, others managed to stand their ground, but no matter how subdued their reactions were, their eyes all told the same story. 

Everyone she'd met was a murderer, just like her.

"Bwahahahahaha! See? I told you you're all killers! Bears do not lie. We're bear-y honest about that! Puhuhu!" Monokuma boasted with that godforsaken laugh of his. Kaede's jaw clenched as she swirled around to face him. Her hands clenched into fists. The bear's devilish grin somehow seemed to widen even further. "So you see, Kaede, you and your friends already did fall for my 'dumb game'. All that bright, shiny hope of yours… for a bunch of heartless killers! I haven't seen despair this thrilling in years!"

She… _ they _ were murderers. Her friends killed her other friends. Rantaro and her were supposed to be the only ones to die, and yet _ five _ of her classmates were here. Kirumi, Korekiyo, Tsumugi, Kaito, even poor, sweet Gonta, all of them resorted to slaughtering each other. If all of them only killed one person, that left… four. A quarter of them survived at best. Akamatsu could feel another bout of tears pooling behind her eyes. How could it have all gone so wrong? They were supposed to get along and escape, and instead, they… her wish… was meaningless. Her _ death _ was meaningless. She failed them all _ again _ . She couldn't even hold it against them. What right did she have to judge them when it was **all her fault-**

"... Does it matter?"

Kaede blinked. Her head swiveled to find Chiaki taking a few hesitant steps forward, her brow furrowed. The room fell silent aside from a few soft snivels as the hall of blackened observed the Ultimate Gamer. Monokuma tilted his head and raised a paw to his snout. "Huh? Wuzzat?"

"Does it matter if we're blackened? Yes, all of us killed someone… but that doesn't mean we'll do it again. Killing can't be forgiven, but people can change. We don't have to be murderers forever. I… have faith in us." 

Nanami's voice was almost as soft as ever, yet it was like a rallying cry. Kaito marched forward with a pumped fist. "Chiaki's right! We're better than that! If it weren't for Monokuma's bullcrap, none of us would be here! It's his fault!"

The pianist stirred a little, as if being woken from a trance. _ "Monokuma's fault…?" _ She echoed in her mind. Was that really true? Sure, she commited murder because of the time limit, but it didn't change the fact that _ she _commited murder. That didn't excuse her crimes. But… maybe the others weren't like her. Maybe…

"Gonta… not know why Gonta kill Miu. Gonta sorry he hurt friends. Gonta maybe not forgivable, but… Gonta know friends good people. Gonta forgive friends!" The Ultimate Entomologist shouted, stretching his arms out protectively. 

Tsumugi nervously raised a finger, a few beads of sweat on her sickly pale brow. "Um, what he said! I don't think we're just plainly bad people!"

Kaede's brow furrowed. Gonta was so sweet, so gentle… there was no way he'd willingly kill someone, right? There had to be some sort of trick that made him do it! Tsumugi, too! So…. that must've also meant the same applied for Kaito and the others! The ahoged woman felt something warm rising in her chest. It was... strange. She knew this feeling, once upon a time, but it had been so long since it felt so pure. Excluding that morning, the last time she felt something similar, it was in her final moments, as heavy and cold as the ball that had taken Rantaro's life. She'd already given up then like she was giving up now. This was different. This felt more like when they first found the Death Road to Despair. Warm and light like this… it was how hope was supposed to feel. The undeniable sensation of rot was still suffocating her, but there was a light in the darkness she could reach towards now. She might be vile, but that didn't mean the others were. They just made mistakes. Grave ones, sure, but they weren't irredeemable. She… she could still make this work! Summing up as much confidence as she could, she marched forward, pointing a finger at their tormentor. "They're right! You… your tricks won't work on us again! We might've been weak before, but no one's going to kill again!"

She'd been expecting them to snap to their senses and stand together. They were friends, or at least had the startings of friendship. Yet the only ones who gave any sort of affirmation were the ones already standing against Monokuma. Instead, after a beat, only one new voice spoke up. "... Are you certain of that?"

"Huh? Celeste?" Kaede questioned the gambler, suddenly feeling like she'd been thrown through a loop. Ludenberg's icy gaze met hers.

"How can you be so sure none of us will kill again? We've all taken lives before, likely many of them innocent. What is the guarantee that any of us would hesitate to turn on each other?"

Kaede tried her hide the new bout of nervousness she felt at the back of her mind. "I… well, I don't have one, but-"

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "If there is no guarantee, then how can you truly believe it? Belief without proof is delusion. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I know for certain that I hold no such fantasies."

Momota's annoyed growl was almost as loud as his fists slamming together. "That's enough! We believe because we wanna believe, and that's all the reason we need! If you can't believe what you wanna believe, what the hell can you?"

"Evidence, for one. Human nature for another. Neither bode well for your beliefs, I'm afraid."

Korekiyo's soft chuckling followed soon after. "Keheheh… it is rather unfortunate, is it not? Distrust has been both boon and bane to countless civilizations. I wonder which it shall be here… either way, I shall be watching with great interest…" His words slithered, the lanky man almost seeming to hug himself. Were it not for that mask of his, Kaede was certain a grin would have awaited her. She tried to hide her growing frown.

"It- it's not like that! Kiyo, you know us. You know the others aren't evil people. There's no way they're just an exception here!" She pleaded. Her classmate merely shook his head, wagging a finger slightly as if she were a disobedient child.

"What is evil, Kaede?" He pondered aloud. Upon not getting an immediate answer, he continued. "It is only what a culture deems it to be. To some, we are but monsters; frightening stories told to children to make them behave. To others, our actions weren't even crimes at all. Good and evil cannot be judged objectively, nor is it an anthropologist's duty to assign such meaningless names to far more important actions. If I were to say anything, it would be… 'use your best judgement. To do otherwise might just prove fatal'. Keheheheh…" The masked man confidently elaborated. 

It was like all the wind dropped from her sails. What were they doing? Were they _ trying _to make the killing game start? How could they say such horrible things? Her gaze hardened as her hands squeezed her arms hard enough to ache lightly "Even if that were the case - which it's not - we don't have to just rely on blind faith. We…" She sucked in a breath. "We all got executed, right? Do you really think anyone's eager to go through that again?" She spoke with a hint of harshness. The indirect threat was sandpaper on her tongue, but it needed to be said. She could practically feel the collective flinch that rocked over the group like a wave. Mikan, Teruteru, and Leon's shrill wailing came back in full force and a number of her friends paled to her dismay but there was no going back at that point. Her gaze stayed firm amongst the growing tension. Celeste's glare became colder than a blizzard. However, she was not the first one to counter Akamatsu's claim.

"By that same token, Siren, not one of us gathered here feared death enough to be dissuaded in our previous lives. What is to say it will stop us in this one should one of us prove so fiendish as to claim the soul of another?" Tanaka scowled, his arms crossed. She held up her hands like Gundham was one of the animals he trained.

"But that's not-"

"We can't know for sure,” Pekoyama's voice cut through her words, her dire warning as serrated as her blade. Kaede wasn't sure when the swordswoman had stirred from her stunned state, but whenever it happened, it had apparently spurred her against the pianist. “I'm sure none of us planned on becoming killers last time either. Friends or not, blindly trusting in each other absolutely will only endanger us all." 

Kaede couldn't help but be crestfallen at the rejection. No one else was speaking up in their favor. She could feel the sweat forming on her brow with each distrusting glance the students gave each other, more than a few of them inching away from the ones closer to them while others took on more aggressive stances. If something didn't happen soon, it would be a repeat of the tunnel, but with _ so _much more on the line.

Kaito took it even worse. "C'mon, Peko! What the hell kinda crap is that? You gotta-"

"_ That said _," Peko spoke forcefully, sparing a momentary glare to the astronaut. "Absolute suspicion will do the same. Vigilance is our only option."

Kaede's frown softened into a slight downward tilt of the lips. That… wasn't _ great _for building trust, but it wasn't as dour and cynical as Celeste and Gundham's words of wisdom. At the very least, the sentiment seemed to lessen the tension between the blackened ever so slightly, the majority of them staying in place rather than making any further moves against each other. Chiaki hummed a little, pressing her fingers together. "Well… that makes sense. But… things will be okay if we all work together. We just have to try." The gamer gave a small beam. Kaede managed one back despite the nearly suffocating feeling of guilt lingering just below the rush of confidence.

"Gonta trust friends, but is okay if people not believe in Gonta. Gonta just need to work extra hard to be trustworthy. Gonta… Gonta not hurting anyone ever again." The gentle giant promised solemnly, hanging his head. She felt a pang for the boy far too kind for his own good. 

"Gonta, you-"

A long and clearly exasperated groan made every student's head snap towards Monokuma. The bear was staring up at the ceiling, arms dangling limply at his sides while his monotonous howl echoed around them. It continued on for a few more seconds before Kaito growled, "Hey! Shut up, damn you!"

The bear stopped in an instant, tilting his head. "Hmm? Didn't like me droning on and on like that? Good! Now maybe you know how I feel! Geez, guys, you were doing so good with all that despair earlier, but now you're just going on and on about _ hope _ and _ trust _ and _ belief _ and BLEH! I'm gonna get sick if you keep on like this! Way to kill the mood like you killed all those people!" Monokuma hissed. He threw his paws in the air. "How are we supposed to get a killing game on the road when half of you are being so wishywashy?!"

"We don't. That's the point." Peko curtly refused.

The bear nearly seemed to roll his eyes at them. "You know what? Fine! If you wanna trust each other and be best friends and all that crap, go right ahead. But when someone turns up with a knife in their back, don't be surprised if I say I told you so~!" He singsonged, his red eye flashing menacingly. Kaede just crossed her arms and glared. "Buuuuuut... how can you trust each other if you can't even trust your own memory?"

"What are you even talking about?" Akamatsu demanded. Her teeth grit at that damned laugh of his.

"That's the funny thing: I can't remember… just like some of your near and dear classmates' murders!"

Before she could open her mouth to respond, Shinguji gave a low, somewhat unnerving chuckle. "Keheheh… I see. Can we take that as a confession that you have taken yet more of our memories?"

"Hey, Kiyo, what're you talking about?" Questioned a perplexed Kaito. The anthropologist seemed to smirk beneath his mask.

"Tell me, Kaito: Why did I resort to killing? You survived my trial. Surely you should know." He said far too casually for a murder confession. Kaito scowled darkly at him.

"Isn't it obvious? You were… you killed Tenko and Angie because…" His brow furrowed, his crossed arms loosening. "... I… damn it, why did you kill them?!" The astronaut roared out with a glare. The pianist's heart sank at the news that he'd slain _ multiple _of her friends, but it wasn't the time to call people out. Korekiyo raised a hand demonstratively.

"Do you understand now? I cannot remember the reason for my killings. Nor can I recall yours, Kirumi. Would it be too bold to assume you have the same condition?"

The maid stiffened like a board. Slowly, she bowed her head, fists clenching into her skirt like it was a lifeline in a dark and unforgiving ocean. "... You are correct, Mister Shinguji. I… I'm afraid I cannot recall why I committed such a heinous crime," Tojo confessed, hints of horror and shame managing to leak through her often impeccably measured tone. A sorrowful emerald eye met her pink ones. "... I have failed not only my duties as a maid, but my promise to you, Miss Akamatsu. For that, though it will never be enough, I truly apologize."

The burst of emotion took Kaede aback. She hadn't known the greenish blonde very long, given the circumstances, but it was still by far the most sentimental she'd ever seen her. Looking closer, it was plain to see Kirumi's jaw was locked tighter than a bank vault. Conflicting emotions swelled in her chest, uncertain of whether she should try to comfort her friend or press on their apparent missing memories. Both were causes of great distress to two very different parts of Kaede's brain. She didn't get a chance to decide as the Ultimate Nurse sneakily approached them, her despaired sobbing lessening a little while she spoke. "Y-y-you can't r-remember why y-you… why I… I… I'm s-so soooorry-!" She barely managed to choke the words out before collapsing to her knees and into another fit of anguished howls, her face wet and flushed red from all her tears. 

The sight stabbed at Kaede's heart, making her decision for her. The pianist put a soothing hand on Tsumiki's back, trying her best to comfort the distraught girl as she spoke to both we and Tojo. "It's-" She stopped herself before she could say _ 'it's okay' _ , because there was absolutely nothing _ okay _ with butchering someone like she did. Instead, she settled on, "It's not your fault. Not really," She glanced back to the grinning animatronic standing proudly in the stage. Mikan was blubbering at this point, saying something about a best friend, but she couldn't decipher most of it through her choked sobs. "This is all because of _ him _."

Celeste's sigh was heavy, almost bored even. "The matter of whose fault it is or is not is irrelevant," She drawled, flicking her hair behind her. "What is relevant, however, is that you've left out some details, Monokuma. Why is that?"

The demented teddy bear held his hands out as if he was giving a sermon. "Why, that's simple! If I left you with _ all _your memories, you'd start killing each other willy-nilly! Some of you were a lot more bloodthirsty than others for one reason or another. What good would all this be if half of you ended up dead before the first week was out? While some good old fashioned senseless slaughter and bloodshed can be fun from time to time, these games are so much more fun with rules!"

"_ Fun _? You… bastard!" Hissed the Ultimate Martial Artist. Kaede flinched out of shock. Sakura had remained as still and silent as a specter, so much so that she had forgotten Ogami was still there. The goliath marching towards Monokuma was entirely unlike the calm and soft spoken girl she had met only a few minutes prior, Sakura's wise silver eyes replaced by hateful black pits while her rage was practically simmering in the air around her. "How dare you?! All these lives you've taken… all the ones you forced others to take… and you won't even let us remember why…? What drives you to inflict such cruelty?!"

He just smirked in response, patting his belly. "Well, reactions like that definitely help make it all worthwhile! Puhuhuhu!"

Sakura grew closer and closer until the armaments that stopped Mondo swiveled to her. Without a hint of fear, she demanded, "... Tell me who I killed. I will not ask again."

"Hmm, I am sure that will convince him," Ludenberg mocked dryly, flicking her hair behind her. A scowl overtook her pale white features. "However, I must confess I too cannot recall my murder either. Even the victim is a blur-"

"Really? Me too, mistress!" Hifumi piped up for the first time since the flashback light went off, his unnerving enthusiasm only slightly dimmed.

Celeste's calm mask had enough cracks that a strong gust of wind could shatter it. "Quite," She tersed out. Closing her eyes for a moment, it was like her entire body reset, all traces of annoyance gone by the time her red orbs reappeared. The gambler's tone was as inquisitive as her analyzing gaze when she asked, "As I was saying, I would like to know more about my murder. May I have an explanation?"

If he smiled any wider, Kaede was certain the robot would break. "Oh, are you curious about the memories that you’re missing? Well that's good, because I'm not going to tell you no matter how many times you ask! Tell you what: if you want your memories back so badly, then someone should really start the killing game as soon as possible! I won't give out any more hints until the first body is discovered. Can you live with not knowing why you killed your buddies, or even which of them you did in?"

"Why not just erase everyone's memories then? Wouldn't that have been easier?" Nanami probed.

"Suspicious, isn't it? Really makes you doubt the people around you…"

Kaito shoved a fist towards Monokuma. "That doesn't answer the question! Too chicken to give us the truth, Monokuma?"

His outrage went completely ignored by their headmaster. "But anyway, as much as I love all this, we're falling behind schedule, so let's step it up a bit!" He proclaimed as he reached behind and pulled out a comically sized remote with a big red button extruding from it out from seemingly thin air. Kaede's blood froze at the sight of it. No. Oh no. That… that was-! She hadn't even realized she was reeling away from him until she nearly fell over. Monokuma's head tilted. "Hmm? What's this? You guys are awfully scared of a little button!" He jerked a paw and slammed the button. Kaede couldn't hold back a panicked yell. The chorus of gasps and cries around her made it clear she wasn't the only one that realized exactly what it meant. It would be maybe a second before that damned collar snapped shut around her neck and dragged her off to her death again, she knew, and there was even less she could do to stop it now than before except close her eyes, throw her hands to her throat and _ pray _it managed to keep the metal from closing. To her bafflement, however, the end never came. After a few tense seconds, she slowly opened her eyes to find Monokuma grinning at her. "What, am I triggering you? Ahahahaha! I'm not executing you guys already, sillies! No siree, fun as those are, I play by the rules I set forth. This button's just to open up the windows on the ship, so if you don't believe me, you can just look outside and see for yourselves!" 

"You are allowing us to see the outside? If I may, why the sudden change of heart?" Celeste pondered, her eyes gleaming with genuine intrigue.

"Switching things up is important, Miss Ludenberg. It'd be awfully boring if I ran all my killing games in the same kinda building all the time. Like you said, you can adapt or you can die, and unlike you guys, Monokuma is forever!"

Kaede's breath shook for a few more seconds before anger came boiling to the surface. "Enough with your twisted games already! Say what you want and get the hell away from us already!" She snarled. Monokuma simply smirked.

"My, my! Someone's feisty. Put that kind of enthusiasm into whacking one of your buddies, and you might just make it out for a change, Kaede! Speaking of new changes…. behold, the all new and improved Monopads!" The animal jovially declared. Just as he finished, something in her backpack shook violently. Keeping a watchful eye on her sworn enemy and one hand on a still-shaking Mikan's back, the pianist cautiously withdrew the tablet. Monokuma's obnoxious color scheme stared back at her around the edges of the screen's bright display. "As long as you are onboard this ship, these will be your keys to a happy and homicidal voyage. Literally! Every one of your monopads works on both your room on the first deck that you’ll be staying in, and on your specific Ultimate Lab! Simply scan your monopad on the scanner attached to one of these doors, and if it's yours, your Monopad will allow you to choose whether you want to lock or unlock that particular door, and will keep it that way for as long as you want! Just to make things fair, I'm unlocking everything except your cabins for now, but you can relock them if you have the right key. So make sure you don't lose them, as these are the only things that’ll unlock your cabin and lab doors! Otherwise, you might end up making a nice, easy victim of yourself if you get locked out of your room!" He added with childish glee. Her lips curled in disgust at the sickening sense of Déjà vu she felt reading over the self-proclaimed Cruise Regulations. These rules looked almost identical to the ones she'd read only a few short days prior, some minor wording differences aside. Reading over the regulation stipulating punishing the blackened was far more uncomfortable this time, her throat contracting against her will, but she forced herself to ignore it. In total, only three entries stood out, all of them rules she was certain weren't around before her death:

**Rule #4: A blackened may only kill up to a maximum of two people in any single killing game. In the event of two killers, only the killer whose victim died first will be considered the blackened.**

**Rule #15: No littering the ocean. This includes trash, evidence, dead bodies, living students, and so on.**

**Rule #16: No physical violence will be permitted during trials. Any attempts to commit a murder while a trial is underway will be met with immediate execution.**

Her stomach flipped at the idea of _ two _simultaneous killers. There… there was no way that would happen. She refused to believe it. The other rules were morbid, but exactly the kind of cruel, warped worldview that she'd come to expect from Monokuma. A part of her felt like seeing how far she could throw it just to spite her monochromatic captor, but in the interest of staying alive, Kaede settled for simply roughly shoving it back into her backpack. "Are you happy now? You got what you wanted. Enjoy it, because that's the last time that's going to happen."

"Because none of you are ever ever gonna participate in a killing game, right?" Monokuma mocked, making the pianist grit her teeth at the bear. "Geez, Kaede, you can ease up a little. I'm going to start confusing you with Mondo with all that scowling you're doing!" 

Suddenly reminded of him, Akamatsu turned her head just enough to face him. The biker hadn't budged an inch since their memories came back, frozen in place like a statue. "... Mondo?" She called out testingly, going completely ignored by the man in question. His knuckles were as white as a ghost while his face completely hidden from view. If it weren't for the silent, seething rise and fall of his chest, she might have been convinced he'd died on his feet. There was something distinctly unsettling about him like this, so quiet and still compared to the overly expressive man she'd known up to that point. Not even Monokuma's insufferable giggling seemed to be enough to wake him from his trance.

"Anyhoo, this is normally the part where I tell you all about the trials and executions and all, but seeing as how you're all _ intimately _familiar with those, I guess my little speech is ending early! Works for me! I've got a date with a jar of honey and videos of puppies getting kicked! Oh, and remember kiddos, Captain Monokuma is always watching, so try to make your deaths as entertaining as possible, okay? Toodles!" And with that, the black and white monster and his various weapons seemed to sink through the floor and walls, leaving the sixteen murderers stunned and alone. Thick and suffocating, the tense silence that overtook the group in Monokuma's absence felt like a snake slowly coiling around them and squeezing out every hint of life. Gathering up every bit of strength she could, Kaede rose to her feet and faced her fellow students.

"We… we won't give in. We can't. I know I've failed some of you before," She lamented, glancing at the five most familiar faces in the crowd. "But I promise you-"

"What good is a killer's promise?" The Ultimate Gambler spoke simply with the same pointedly numb scorn that she'd come to associate with Maki in the few days she'd known the icy Ultimate. Kaede's speech died in her throat.

"H-huh?"

"We are murderers, Kaede. Murderers are liars by trade," She continued, her predatory gaze stabbing through the pianist, determined not to let her escape. Celestia's tone was light, almost conversational, but with a trace of malice that lashed against Akamatsu's spirit like a whip. "Each of us had a trial, correct? That alone makes it clear none of us simply confessed. I most certainly did not. So, then, why should any of us believe a single word another says? It'll only bring disaster."

It was a verbal punch in the gut, completely throwing Akamatsu off. Her mind scrambled for a response that she never got to give. "Shut the hell up! Kaede's not like that!" Kaito roared, baring his teeth at the pale woman. "You don't know anything about us. Why should we listen to your fear-mongering bullshit instead of actually working together and making sure none of that happens, huh?!" 

The look Celeste gave him was the closest she could picture the gambler could come to rolling her eyes. "Even if that is truly the case for her, can you say the same for everyone else? We are not friends. Most of us are hardly even acquaintances. If you wish to set yourself up for betrayal, that is fine. I, however, refuse."

Tsumugi wrung her hands over and over, a blue tint coming over her. "Ah… that's…"

Chiaki shook her head. "Monokuma acts like this is PVP, but it's not. It's co-op. Things might go bad if you trust people, sure, but maybe they won't. Maybe it could save our lives."

Gundham shook his head with a scowl. "Or it might bring pandemonium unto us all. Anything that speaks can betray you, Chiaki. Unless you possess the level of dark magic necessary to read the minds of others, the only one whom you can truly know the intentions of is yourself."

Shirogane bit her lip, glancing nervously at Gundham and Celeste on either side of her before her gaze flicked back to Kaede and Chiaki. "... I'm sorry, but… I really don't know if I can trust everyone."

Just like that, the defiantly hopeful atmosphere she'd tried so hard to build came crashing down around her. Kaito was shouting out livid condemnations and demands at the increasingly uneasy blackened, drowning out Gonta and Chiaki's attempts to soothe the situation. Mikan started crying again at some point. Gundham roared back overly dramatic warnings about the nature of human darkness in between the odd comments from Celeste and Korekiyo. The more paranoid among them started to isolate themselves once again. "Guys!" She called out, but her own voice hardly stood out amongst the bickering crowd. "Everyone, calm down! Please!" They ignored her. If anything, they only seemed to get louder. "Stop fighting! This is what Monokuma wants!" She pleaded to no avail. Monokuma's cruel laughter echoed in her mind at the discord on display and her already strained patience snapped. "SHUT UP ALREADY!"

The room fell quiet once more, every pair of eyes falling on her. Surprise. Confusion. Uncertainty. Distrust. Annoyance. Fear. Each set of eyes reflected at least one of those emotions as they bore into her. She stood her ground regardless. "Don't you guys get it? This is exactly what Monokuma wants from us. He wants us to rip each other to shreds. Well… screw him! You might not trust each other completely, but we can all trust that Monokuma is a monster. None of us are nearly as bad as he is, so even if you're afraid, we should still stick together against him."

The usual suspects quickly rallied around her, which while welcome, weren't her target audience. She carefully watched the others to see if her words swayed them at all. Another harsh interjection from Celeste was basically a guarantee, but she was hoping to at least get a foot in the door first. Tsumugi, ever willing to go with the flow, seemed to perk up the words a little. Teruteru, Mikan and Leon still seemed too out of it to really follow along. Hifumi was barely paying attention. Gundham's jaw tightened, a retort dancing in his eyes that was no doubt waiting for just the right opportunity to strike. In contrast, Peko gave a curt nod of agreement. "Agreed. Ultimately, most of the danger here is only present if we allow it. Korekiyo was correct; trust who you can, and those you can't, don't."

"That's still a bunch of crap..." Kaito grumbled, frowning. Kaede suppressed a cringe. Thankfully, before another argument could break out, Kirumi, apparently having collected herself, stepped forward. 

"If I may," She raised her voice just enough to draw everyone's attention, somehow managing to keep it steady despite everything. "It has been a traumatic day, to say the least. I believe it would be for the best if we all retire for the evening and reconvene when tempers are cooler in the morning. Is that acceptable?" 

Kaede took the opportunity to regain control. "Kirumi's right. It's a lot to take in, and I think we all need some time to cope. We… we'll get things sorted tomorrow."

Not many people responded, though not a soul protested. The once lively bunch of Ultimates had become as silent as the dead. Kaede bit back the creeping sense of dread and guilt that began settling over her shoulders. After all her talk about trust and hope, she couldn't let her fears show through. She couldn't fail everyone yet again. After a few moments of silence, Celeste sighed a little. "I suppose this is fine. At the very least, I see no point in further debate. I have given my suggestions, and in truth, that is all I am inclined to do. If that is all, then I shall take my leave." Ludenberg conceded, giving a small curtsy. With that, she casually left the room. 

The blackened started slowly trickling out shortly after, first Hifumi following after his mistress, then Leon and Teruteru's puffy-eyed forms shambled out of the room muttering how it couldn't be real. Tsumugi made her exit paler than a ghost, unable to meet anyone's gaze. Mondo and Sakura both left without a word, their rigid body language speaking for them. With each and every person that left with distrust and worry in their gaze, a bit of her confidence went with them. Eventually, the only ones left in the grand hall were Chiaki, Kaito, Mikan, and Kaede herself. Kaito scratched his head, looking away. "Well, that coulda gone a lot worse…" He attempted to cheer. She couldn't help the forlorn sigh that escaped her lips. Mikan still on her knees, whimpered.

"Sorry… I'm s-sorry… I-I'm s-so sorry…" Tsumiki repeated for what must have been the thousandth time, her tears long since run dry but her entire body rocking with almost-silent sobs. Kaede continued vain attempts to soothe the girl, staring at her with a mix of profound pity, light exasperation and, no matter how much she hated it, suspicion. With Monokuma and the need to fight off Celeste's arguments gone, the suffocating emotions she'd been drowning in when she first recovered her memories -the very same ones that made her butcher one of her friends- were clawing their way back to the surface. She couldn't believe it, certainly didn't _ want _to believe it, but the meek, soft-hearted nurse before her was a murderer. It was impossible to imagine… but then again, just a few days prior, she never could have pictured herself killing another person either. She glanced at Momota and her gut twisted at the insidious thought that he was the same. It was easy to believe in them when there was a clear enemy in the room. On their own, though? A switch flicked and nothing but uncertainty remained. She tasted bile, but no matter how much she willed it away or cursed herself for her hypocrisy, she couldn't shake the horrible feelings from her mind. 

Thankfully, Kaito seemed to misunderstand the cause for her distress. "Hey, don't be like that, Kaede. You did great, alright? It's not your fault people are freaked out."

Akamatsu didn't respond, biting her cheek to keep from frowning. Was that really the case? Sure, she'd tried to give everyone hope, but… she tried that last time, too. She was so focused on that hope that she was willing to kill one of her friends. Maybe… maybe her kind of hope brought more harm than good. Her mind flashed to the devastation painted across Shuichi's face as she was dragged off to her death. He trusted her so much, had so much faith in her. All of them did. And then she crushed it all with that damned shot put. "... I…" She trailed off, sighing. _ "I don't know if I can trust any of you," _wouldn't help anything, especially not after arguing directly against it for so long. She didn't like talking as if Mikan wasn't right there with them, but given how distraught the lavender-haired nurse was, she didn't have much choice. Instead, she settled on, "I don't know, guys. I… it feels like we're back at square one."

Chiaki put a hand to her heart. "They're just scared. They'll come around… I thin-... no, I believe. We… we'll never allow another killing. I know it." Her voice held an earnest faith that Kaede wished she could honestly share. The blonde managed to match Nanami's simper by ever so slightly quirking her lips up, taking concerted effort to fake given her grim thoughts.

Kaito's agreement more than made up for her lack of excitement. "Damn straight, Chiaki!" He declared, slapping her on the back. The clearly stunned gamer blinked, apparently not entirely sure how to respond to Kaito's rather physical displays of approval. Undeterred, the Ultimate Astronaut beamed at the girls. His enthusiasm faded at Kaede's silence. "Right, Kaede?"

_ "That's what we promised last time, too…" _A bitter voice reminded her. On the outside, however, she nodded. "R-right…" She managed, praying it didn't sound as hollow as it felt. Kaito gave her an odd look for a few moments before understanding dawned on his face and it swapped back to his customary supportiveness with such ease that it was as if it never even left. It made it a little easier to forge a smile of her own. A beat of silence passed between the Ultimates, a rarity in Kaito's presence, but there was nothing left to say. At least, nothing Kaede would be willing to share with the peculiarly hopeful students.

Chiaki's eyes slowly seemed to droop before she failed to stifle a yawn. "... I think we should probably find those cabins Monokuma mentioned. I'm getting a bit… sleepy…"

Sleep was probably the last thing Kaede wanted to do at that moment, but the opportunity to escape was welcome. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Maybe… maybe things will make more sense tomorrow." The pianist said with an optimism she couldn't quite feel. Just as she moved to turn around, however, something caught her foot. A quick glance downward revealed Mikan hugging the blonde's legs, staring up at her with pleading, desperate eyes.

"I-I'm sorry… p-please, forgive me, please…" The inconsolable nurse sniffled. An ocean of guilt slammed into Akamatsu at the sight. She awkwardly tried to kneel down to be eye-level with Mikan despite the latter's unexpectedly strong grip, giving her the most reassuring look she could manage.

"I…" She paused. How could she honestly forgive a crime she knew nothing about? Or a girl she barely even knew at that? There was nothing to forgive in the first place. But as she stared into Tsumiki's teary gaze, she just didn't have the heart to refuse her. "I forgive you, Mikan," Her barely audible voice promised. Not another word left the purple-haired medic. Mikan simply pulled her closer and silently wept, Kaede giving pleading looks to her two remaining companions. With some gentle coaxing from Chiaki and the pianist (and some remarkably measured support from Kaito), over time, they eventually managed to get Mikan to her feet, even if she looked like simply breathing too harshly would break her in half. She was leaning on Chiaki like an old man's cane, after all. Once she was secure, Kaede pulled out her Monopad and checked the map. "Looks like the dorms are on the first floor… guess we should get a move on." She informed. Without further ado, they were on their way.

***

The vast halls of the ship managed to seem infinitely more lonesome on the trek back. Maybe it was her growing sense of unease, or perhaps it was a testament to just how drained she felt after having the guilt of her crime slam into her all at once, but the usually inspired leader had nothing to say the entire walk back. She gave half-hearted responses and gestures when Kaito or Chiaki occasionally prompted her, the pianist only half-tuned to their conversation, but she didn't bother broaching any subjects in favor of mulling over everything she'd learned in the past few hours. She was much too distracted to give any grand speeches anyway, with Monokuma's gleeful declarations holding the space that might have belonged to them instead. 

Her mind didn't wander so much as it looped over the events of the past few days again and again, every bad decision and their disastrous consequences laid bare before her. She wasn't sure how long she quietly walked along thinking about the tunnel that brought so much false hope, or Rantaro's blood splattered across the floor of the library, or the looks of betrayal on her friends' faces as the Ultimate Detective tore his heart out to save them all by damning her. Both a lifetime and a few short hours had passed since her execution in her mind, unable to decide which one was reality, but it all led to the same questions. Kaede Akamatsu was dead, and then she wasn't. But why? _ How _? That was the fate she accepted the moment she realized Rantaro wasn't the mastermind. She'd felt the life leave her body with each strangled breath and stone thrown at her head. The Ultimate Pianist was executed, just as the rules stipulated, and that was supposed to be the end of everything. Yet there she was, alive and able to ruminate on the impossibility of her situation. Each attempt to come up with a way she could have survived was instantly scrapped when her sharp mind found a hole in whatever theory popped into her head until she eventually stopped trying and let her thoughts drift to her companions.

Even when they reached the dorms in the corridor she, Mondo and Chiaki had been joking and bantering with each other in maybe a couple hours prior and gave their farewells for the night, she couldn't shake the disbelief from her heart or the grim reality from her mind as she looked at her friends and tried to compute the idea that they had taken lives. She swore she'd trust them, and she truly wanted to, but doubt was inescapable. It was like the suspicion she'd felt when Shuichi first told her about the mastermind, but so, _ so _ much worse because now she knew _ for sure _the kind of things they were willing to do. The almost weirdly serene yet endlessly kind Chiaki? Murderer. The painfully shy and awkward if caring Mikan? Murderer. Even Kaito, with his boundless enthusiasm and loyalty, was a murderer. It was like there was a pane of glass between the real world and what she wanted it to be. The concept was simply too far removed from what she knew to seem real, yet was undeniably the truth, not unlike the world that was teasingly displayed just outside her room's window.

True to Monokuma's word, the walls of their gilded cage had shifted once again, sections of the wallpaper throughout the halls replaced by windows and portholes that led out to the outside of the ship. The world, as it turned out, was a seemingly endless sea of inky black water that stretched on forever in all directions with a hazy-red sky peeking through coal black clouds. Overtime, the darkness seemed to overtake even that, eventually swallowing the world in an inky blanket as night descended upon the sea. It seemed so unreal, and yet, everything pointed to it being the truth. Being on a cruise ship would explain the massive halls and ornate decorations. No matter how long she stared, there never seemed to be a repeating wave or cloud that would out it as an illusion. If she closed her eyes and pressed her ear against the glass, she could even faintly hear the waves lapping against the hull down below. Unless the bear was using some ridiculously advanced holograms or something of the like, Kaede couldn't figure out any way for it to be fake. The bizarro earth waiting just beyond the glass was simply an unexplainable anomaly like the End Wall of her previous prison. Foreign yet familiar, impossible yet real, surrounded yet completely alone, the ship itself was inadvertently a rather fitting metaphor for Akamatsu at that moment.

Kaede sighed, turning away from the sight and letting her eyes scan across her cabin for probably the hundredth time since she entered it. The room was somewhat spacious, consisting of a large bed pressed against the left wall of the room, a TV mounted on the wall with a red couch and glass coffee table forming a small living room on the opposite end of the cabin. A few music books sat loosely stacked by the couch while a few bookshelves by the window were lined with biographies on various classical and modern maestros as well as records to go with a gramophone resting idly in the corner. Lights hung down from the rafters far above, painting the room in a faint yellow light. A door leading to a sleekly designed bathroom stood largely forgotten in the left-hand corner. It was considerably nicer than her lodgings in the academy, a fact that disgusted her given that Monokuma probably meant it as a _ reward _ for what she'd done. Part of her wanted to rip it all to shreds simply to spite the monster she'd come to hate so much, only barely restrained by the rational side of her brain reminding her that it would only end with another collar pulling her off to her doom.

The pianist haphazardly fell on the bed with a groan. No, her execution was the last thing she wanted to think about. Thinking in general was the last thing she wanted at that moment. She couldn't sleep, but didn't have the motivation to do anything but stare at the ceiling and try to ignore the grim thoughts drifting through her head. It was mind-numbingly boring, but being bored was better than reliving the self-hatred and agony that defined the last hours of her life. She briefly considered skimming through one of the books on her shelf, but even just the thought of her once-beloved rows of keys made her skin crawl. Akamatsu forced her eyes shut, balling her hands into fists. Leave it to Monokuma to make her pride and joy the source of so much fear...

"Attention! This is your captain speaking!" Monokuma's voice blared out. Kaede yelped, shooting to her feet and guarding her neck before she even fully processed the threat. Her eyes shot to the bear on the other end of the room… or rather, the TV screen displaying him. The white and black beast had apparently picked up a rather tacky sea captain's hat at some point, the cap resting crookedly on his head while he lazily stirred a martini in his left paw. She let out am uneasy hiss, glaring at the coldblooded executioner's cheery expression while she forced her hands back to her sides. She would _ not _give him the satisfaction of being scared. "I have an official announcement: it is now ten p.m. As such, nighttime has officially begun. While you're free to roam the ship to your heart's content, keep in mind, you never know who's around the corner… puhuhuhu! Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the murderers bite!" He menacingly advised before the TV flicked off again of its own accord. Her teeth grit in sheer unbridled loathing. 

"Why can't you just leave us alone?!" Akamatsu spat out more for her own benefit than actually thinking Monokuma would hear. She couldn't remember ever truly hating something until that damned bear. It was a sickening feeling, sticking to her soul like a stain that just wouldn't come out. Even the thought of the maniacal robot made contempt boil in her. He'd managed to make killers out of her friends, out of _ herself _ , brutally executed each and every one of them, and he'd done it all with a smile on his face. She wanted to scream, punch him, do anything that could hurt him, but knew damn well that she couldn't do a thing, and the powerlessness of it hurt most of all. With a growl, she kicked the insultingly luxurious mattress, her foot bouncing off the soft bed harmlessly. Kaede paused, looking at the bed for a long moment before hitting it again. It was childish, sure, but it felt unashamedly _ good _. The principle of it mattered more than actually harming the thing. If she couldn't play her frustrations away, she'd punch them out instead. She had no idea how long she spent pummeling her pillows and bedsheets, slamming her fists into her bedding with all her rage and sorrow. She put every ounce of emotion she had into it until she was spent, collapsing onto the well-worn pile in a heap. She took haggard breaths, her limbs aching lightly from exertion, but it was welcome. For the first time since Celeste completely destroyed any sense of unity between the students, Kaede felt something besides fear, hate, suspicion, and regret. Exhaustion wasn't one of her favorite things in the world, but she'd take it. The first blackened let it wash over her body like a wave. Ever so slowly, she felt her eyes droop down, a warm, numbing blanket on her overstressed mind. Kaede gradually surrendered herself to sleep...

_ Bingbing! Bingbing! _

A bell tolled at the door. And tolled again. Less than half a second later, it tolled over and over and over again without pause, ringing nonstop like a fire alarm. Before she could even try to answer it, whoever was ringing her doorbell started knocking on the door in tandem with the electronic alarm, a discordant mess of an ear sore. The musician cringed, covering her ear as she awkwardly fumbled out of her ruined bed and stumbled towards the door. "I'm coming, just hold on a moment! Geez…" She muttered under her breath. She was so wrapped up in the somewhat annoying normalcy of it that it didn't occur to her that the person at her door would be a convicted killer until it was already opening. Part of her screamed to slam it shut again, but upon seeing a familiar streak of purple hair in the poor lighting of the hall, her curiosity was piqued. Kaede quirked an eyebrow at the man before her. "Kaito? What are you doing here?"

He flashed her a wide smile. "Hey, you opened the door! That's better than the others already!"

"... Um, what do you mean by that?" The blonde asked cautiously. He didn't seem to pick up on her apprehension, however.

"Training! Well, I'm about to, anyway. Wanted to see if you'd wanna tag along. Interested?" The boundlessly energetic man invited. Kaede blinked.

"Training?" She echoed dumbly.

"Yeah, training. Y'know, push ups, sit ups, that sorta thing. You in?"

"Why?"

Kaito grinned. "Because training's the best way to get rid of weakness! I get you're pretty freaked out, so I wanna help. Your body and head are connected, right? So if we work out, we can kill two birds with one stone! I tried asking the others, but no one was down for it. You gonna be the one to break the mold?"

Kaede blinked again. "... Are you serious?"

That seemed to get through to him, the lavender-cloaked cosmonaut tilting his head. "Huh? Why wouldn't I be?"

_ "Because we're all murderers and being alone with any of us could result in you getting killed?" _ Akamatsu immediately questioned in her mind. She stared hard at him, scanning for any hint of deception in his expression. Training? In the middle of the night? With _ her _? It just didn't add up. Kaito was eccentric at the best of times, but could that really explain it all away? In her trial, it had been easy to tell when someone was lying or not. You couldn't fool the culprit herself, after all. Here, though, he seemed so much harder to read. It was way too implausible to be the truth, yet the only thing contained in his body language was genuine bafflement. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up with comprehension and, to her surprise, Kaito smirked a little. 

"Oh, I get it. You're trying to tell if I'm hiding something, right? You were doing the same thing earlier in the ballroom."

Kaede's eyes widened._ "How the heck did he know that?!" _ Her mind scrambled at the same time her mouth sputtered out, "Wh- no, of course not!" Her well-intentioned lie sounded almost childishly opaque to her ears. Her shock turned to bewilderment as Kaito laughed.

"Nah, believe me, I get it. Shuichi'd give me that look all the time. I could tell he didn't like it either, always felt guilty doubting me and crap. But I'll tell you the same thing I told him: if you doubt me, pursue that doubt to the end! That's the only way you can get to the truth. And… considering how things have changed since back then…" His enthusiasm tampered off into a more serious voice she couldn't recall him ever possessing during their short time together in the first killing game. "Don't tell Celeste I said this, but you're more than right to doubt me. I screwed up your wish. Pretty much all of us did. So, I get it if you can't trust me. But that said, I still believe in you. Never stopped. Even if you can't believe in me, I promise I've got your back. Just keep that in mind, okay?"

An uncertain feeling settled in Kaede. A flash of hope once again flickered in her heart, but just as soon as it appeared, the darkness of her soul descended and did its best to snuff that candlelight out._ "What good is a killer's promise?" _Celeste's voice echoed. Kaito was her friend, but he was also a murderer. She was too, but he trusted her, so she should too. Or did he? Was it just a ploy to make her lower her guard and be alone with him so he could… 

She clenched a fist hidden by the door. No. She… she couldn't be like that. Her distrust of everyone last time got herself and Rantaro killed. It would have gotten _ everyone _killed if it weren't for Shuichi. She couldn't live with the blood on her hands already. She'd be damned if she let them get drenched further. Even… even if he did kill her, it's not like she wouldn't deserve it, and the others would be smart enough to figure it out. Besides, it was Kaito! If there was anyone she could trust here, it would be him. Managing a tiny, shaky smile even as she tried to choke down her self-loathing, she whispered, "I… I will. And I'm gonna live up to all my talk about trusting each other and being friends," Her voice managed to regain a hint of enthusiasm the further she went on. "So you know what? Sure. Let's do it."

Kaito's grin could've lit up a starless night sky. "That's the spirit! Train today, kick Monokuma's ass tomorrow!"

The Luminary of the Stars' confidence melted away the last icy traces of apprehension. "As much as I want to, that seems a bit soon. Think we could get a raincheck on that second part?" The former leader joked dryly as she stepped outside and gently closed her door behind her. Kaito shrugged.

"Fine, we kick his ass the day after tomorrow. Better?"

She smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

And with that, they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, basic rundown of things.
> 
> People that can't remember their motive:  
Mikan  
Korekiyo  
Kirumi
> 
> People that can't remember their motive or victim:  
Sakura  
Celeste  
Hifumi
> 
> You might be wondering why we didn't give everyone their memories back. That much is kinda simple:
> 
> 1\. If Sakura remembered that she only killed herself, she'd be relatively without regret, and as such couldn't be influenced by Monokuma's despair. To counter that, he erased her memory of her suicide plan and is basically leaving her to guess who she killed in order to keep her off balance.  
2\. If Mikan remembered why she killed Ibuki and Hiyoko, she'd be an Ultimate Despair again, and thus would be way too easy to pinpoint as a killer for Chiaki and Gundham because they survived her trial.  
3\. Kirumi would remember being the waifu of Japan and probably go sicko mode on someone instantly, so no memory for her either.  
4\. Korekiyo would be way too unhinged to be a competent killer if we left him as he was at the end of 3-3.  
5\. Celestia is the queen of liars. Who knows if she's being honest?
> 
> An important note as you might have gotten from Kaito's bit with Kiyo is that if they can't remember their motive/victim, nobody else can either. It'd be cheating if they could just tell each other after all. Anyhoo, next time, more Kaito and Kaede, a tense breakfast, and some exploration!  
-MrCynical


	4. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Daily Life Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede and Kaito's workout session faces an unexpected adversary. The following day, exploration begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so, so sorry for the delay! Midterms are an absolute bitch, but it's finally here!

The dimmed ceiling lights painted the expansive hall of the dorms in a soft, sleepy blue, almost like moonlight as the pianist and astronaut made their way through the corridor. The royal blue carpet was like a silently flowing river down the center, seeming to glow slightly compared to the barely visible yellow walls. It also served to muffle even Kaito's usually thunderous footsteps to a soft thud which each step. Still, her voice seemed to echo as she asked, "So, where are we going, exactly? We probably shouldn't do it here, or we might wake someone up." 

Kaito gave a small shrug. "Honestly? No clue. The rooms are too small for a real routine, I didn't get to look around much before Monokuma's announcement, and I don't really feel like stumbling around in the dark trying to figure out if there's a gym or something."

Kaede resisted the urge to roll her eyes in light amusement. Typical Kaito; always ready to offer a hand even when he hasn't thought the _ how _ of it through. So, wherever they did it, it had to be open enough for their workout, somewhere they already knew, and far enough away from the dorms that it wouldn't disturb the others. The Victorian-esque room she'd found Celeste, Gundham, and Tsumugi jumped to mind, but exercising on hardwood floors didn't sound particularly appealing. While the ballroom was mostly carpeted, she refused to even humor the idea of going back there after all that happened. "... Hmm. Maybe just the top of the second deck's stars will work?"

Momota rubbed his chin. "Huh… yeah, that could work. Alright, sidekick, let's go!" He declared as he proudly planted a hand on his hip. Kaede crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"I never actually said yes to that, you know..." She pointed out with a hint of exasperation. He simply waved it off.

"We can get the semantics worked out later. C'mon, I'm getting rustier by the second!" His eager impatience reminded her of a kid on Christmas morning nagging his parents to get up faster. She smirked a little. He probably _ still _got that excited for presents, come to think of it. He held out a hand to stop her, making her look at him quizzically. "Wait, better idea. We're racing there!"

"We're racing _ up the stairs _ ?" She said the words with an emphasis that silently conveyed, _ "That's really dangerous and we shouldn't do it." _Unfortunately, he was apparently immune to such nuances as he grinned and pumped a fist.

"Yeah! Perfect way to get your heart rate up before we get to the real stuff!" He proudly declared as he dropped to a runner's stance. "Consider this the first step of training. Last one there has to do double! Ready! Set!"

"Kaito, wait! That's not-" 

"Go!" 

And with that he was already sprinting down the hall at full speed. Kaede could only stare blankly for a few seconds before stifling a curse and desperately bolting after him. While he had the advantage of a surprise head start and a much more athletic frame, he was also trying to run in slippers of all things, so it was only about half a minute before she was able to catch up with the slightly slowed astronaut. "Cheater! Slow down and talk to me!" Kaede demanded with a glare. 

"If I'm cheating, try harder and beat me!" He daringly called back. Kaito seemed to draw on some reserved energy as he suddenly pulled ahead, much to Kaede's frustration. Either Kaito didn't realize just how badly he outclassed her physically or he was _ really _set on her getting into exercise. How the hell was she supposed to do double if she didn't even know if she could do the basic routine? At this rate, the only body getting discovered would be hers when she keeled over from exhaustion! The pianist didn't exactly have a lot of experience with sprinting, but there was no way she'd let herself lose to a cheater like him. She tried to push her legs back and forth even faster, storming down the hall as fast as they could carry her in pursuit of the Ultimate Astronaut about thirty feet ahead of her. The entire race couldn't have been more than a couple minutes, but in the heat of the moment, it felt like she was running for hours with her target just out of reach.

Ironically, the stairs she tried to warn him against would prove to be his undoing. Exactly as expected, his remarkable run had turned into an awkward stumble upward as he attempted to pull himself up two steps at a time at a relatively quick pace without sending himself careening down the stairs. Given that it was Kaito, she'd been afraid that he'd manage to trip and hurt himself. By the time Kaede reached him, however, she was far too invested to reissue her warning. With the air rushing through her hair and her heart pounding in her chest, Kaito's competitive spirit had definitely spread to her. "Tried to tell you!" She called out as she zoomed by him with ease and a little more satisfaction than strictly necessary. His reply was lost to the wind while she carried onward. It seemed Kaito's distraction had worked better than she expected, her fears and doubts taking a backseat to the rush of adrenaline brought on by the race. She triumphantly crossed their invisible finish line a good twenty seconds before the purple-haired boy even peeked over the stairs. She couldn't hide a confident smirk as she taunted, "Looks like you're doing double."

Kaito rolled his eyes a little. "Beginner's luck, that's all. Besides, it's not like the Luminary of the Stars is afraid of a few more pushups!" He slammed his fists together with a determined grin. "You ready?"

"Um, I think? I've never really done this before…" She confessed. _ "I really hope I don't mess up my hands doing this…" _

Kaito dropped to the floor in an instant. "I'll show you how! Okay, first thing is you have to square your shoulders…"

Kaede was by no means out of shape, but she was woefully underprepared for a real workout. That much was abundantly clear from how even Kaito's rather casually paced pushups still left her in the dust, the astronaut managing to do about five in the time it took her to do one. Her arms burned after just five, and she felt like a champion when she managed to reach ten and collapsed to the floor… only for Kaito to cheekily point out that the goal was one hundred. By the time she reached twenty, her entire upper body was on fire. Her arms physically couldn't carry her at twenty-five. "I can't," She gasped out, barely managing to roll onto her back. After a few moments, she found the strength to sit up, shaking her head at Kaito. "Can I have a minute?"

"Sure! Taking a breather's important every once and awhile," Momota agreed. His supportive expression shifted into a smirk. "But so's pushing your limit. I mean, if I'm gonna be doing two-hundred pushups-"

Kaede rolled her eyes. "If I say you don't have to do double, we drop it to fifty. Deal?"

"Hmm. I guess since you're a beginner I can let that slide!" Kaito preened. Akamatsu debated whether or not to call out his hypocrisy before settling on playing along with his hero act. He pulled himself up to a half-laying position, looking up at the ceiling. It seemed a little odd to Kaede, making her press for an explanation. "Never thought I'd miss the academy, but at least there you could see the stars at night. Here? It's just the same ugly ceiling everywhere you go. You can't even see them through the window with all those clouds. It's kinda pissing me off."

The blonde didn't know what compelled her to say it, but before she could fully realize how loaded the question was, she blurted out, "You still like space after your execution?"

Momota looked genuinely puzzled. "I mean, yeah. It's been my passion since I was a kid. There's no way I could give that up just because of Monokuma. Wouldn't be much of an Ultimate Astronaut if I was afraid of space, you know?" He asked, blissfully ignorant of the insult he'd unintentionally lobbed at her.

Kaede bit her lip, swearing she could faintly hear _ The Flea Waltz _playing somewhere in the distance. An Ultimate Pianist that was deathly afraid of pianos. It was almost funny, in a horrible sort of way. She tried to ignore the way her throat tightened while she spoke. "... Y-yeah. That makes sense…" Her voice dwindled. She hated the awkward silence that followed. There was no way she'd stay on this topic any longer than she had to, so she wracked her brain for a different one that wasn't completely out of left field until a flash of inspiration hit her. "Is that why you still want to train?"

He nodded. "You have to be fit to be an astronaut, body and mind. Training helps keep both in shape. Besides, nothing builds a bond like working out! Just ask Shuichi!"

"Shuichi? What do you mean?"

"Oh, right. After you… after the first trial, Shuichi wasn't in good shape. None of us were, but he had it the worst. He blamed himself for… you know," He confessed with a regretful frown. Kaede couldn't meet his eyes. Shaking his head, he continued. "He tried acting like he was fine the next day, but I could tell. So, I decided to take him on as my sidekick, and the first order of business was training," A fond smile came to his face as he explained. In a way, it was a relief to hear Shuichi found someone he could rely on after she was gone, though knowing he still blamed himself for her mistake was yet another weight on her heart. The meek detective deserved better than a lifetime of guilt. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Kaito reaching out until his hand was on her shoulder, making her jump slightly and face him completely. "You'd be proud of him. He took your words to heart. He was like a completely different person by the time my trial rolled around; as confident in himself as a man should be, especially an Ultimate. If I'm being honest… that was all you. I was just his excuse to become who you knew he was."

A frail smile gradually tugged at her lips. "I… don't know about that, but thank you, Kaito. For looking out for him when he needed it."

His serious tone shifted into something more akin to his trademark bluster. "Of course. What kind of hero wouldn't look out for his sidekicks?" He said with a grin oozing compassion and confidence. He shifted back into position. "Alright, another twenty-five, and then we move on to sit ups. After that's jumping jacks, and then we wrap up with another race! Ready?"

Kaede balked even as she prepared to do another set of pushups. "Geez. Did you have Shuichi do this much?"

He smirked. "At first. I threw in a little more each session. It's not that much if you do it instead of talk about it, trust me."

And so the pair continued their regimine. Having something to concentrate on proved to be just what she needed to keep her darker thoughts away, the pianist much too focused with trying to keep up with Kaito's break-neck pace and encouraging challenges to dwell on what happened before. Even the ache of her muscles grew to be a welcome one, as it was the most real she'd felt since her memories returned. "Forty-seven… forty-eight… forty-nine… fifty!" She triumphantly called out between gasps of air. She felt half dead, but it was worth it.

"Nice! But don't pat yourself on the back too much. We're just getting started," Momota cautioned. Kaede's pout just served to make him laugh. "I'll let you catch your breath a bit. In the meantime, watch how I do sit ups so you have an idea for what you're in for."

It was pretty simple to learn the technique. Sit ups weren't exactly hard, after all. She took a minute to get some air back in her lungs before mimicking the astronaut's movement. One after another, the reps came quickly and easily compared to the much more demanding pushups. So easily, in fact, that it didn't take long for her mind to wander. While the earlier routine demanded her focus, there was little keeping her thoughts anchored this go around. Try as she might, her thoughts kept drifting back to the ballroom and the horrid memories gleefully burned into her mind. The first killing game almost felt like a dream. It was impossible to think that she'd met so many dear friends just three days prior, or that nearly all of them were now gone. Whether she knew they were dead for sure like poor Tenko, Angie, and Miu, had fallen by her own hands like Rantaro, or were one of the many students that she could only guess the fates of, there was something in her mind that refused to acknowledge that she could never see their smiling faces again. No matter how she tried to shake her head of turmoil, the burden weighed heavily on her shoulders. 

Of course, the victims weren't the only ones she'd failed, were they? No, if anything, they'd been spared the brunt of her defeat. They hadn't been left to slowly fall into their own desperosity and fear until they snapped and took a life before having their own brutally stolen from them in turn. Suddenly, the grim musings that had been haunting her from before Kaito interupted came back with a vengeance. Kaede's pace slowed until she eventually ground to a halt, staring blankly at the ceiling. She hated the feeling sweeping over her with a passion, but was completely unable to rid herself of it. It didn't take long for her starbound companion to notice. "Oh, no way you finished your reps already! Don't give up, you're better than that! C'mon, Kaede! Look alive!"

The pianist inclined her head to stare at him uncertainly. "... How can I if I'm not?"

Kaito stopped halfway through, turning to look at her. His brow knitted deeply in concerned confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Kaede bit her lip a little. "Just… I didn't think about it when Monokuma gave us our memories back, but… I know it's a bit messed up to think about... how are we alive, Kaito? I… I don't think anyone could've survived _ that _," She winced at the angry flash of pain that traced along her neck at the reminder of her fate, but pushed on. "But here I am. Do you think we're ghosts or something?"

"We're not ghosts!" He snapped, startling the pianist. Kaito looked almost as surprised as she was, rubbing his head awkwardly in clear embarrassment. "Ghosts are a bunch of bullcrap, alright? So there's no point talking about them."

Despite the grim question that led to it, Kaede couldn't help but feel a grin tug at her lips. "... Are you scared of gho-"

"No I'm not! Ghosts aren't real, goddammit! I'm not scared of shit that doesn't exist!" Momota nearly squealed, visibly on the edge of panic. A laugh escaped Kaede.

"Clearly," She drawled, giggling at his glower. The mood heavied once again a few seconds later, falling with her smile. "... Seriously, though. It just doesn't make any sense. How can any of us be here?"

Kaito's anger simmered down into uncertainty, a small frown coming over his usually enthusiastic features. "We…" He clicked his tongue with a sigh. "I don't really know. I mean, the disease did me in before Monokuma could-" He caught Akamatsu's puzzled look and waved a hand. "Oh, yeah. Turns out I had some screwed up stomach bug from space. It ended up killing me like halfway through my execution. That's what makes things weird. Only thing I can think of is if he faked the executions, but if he did that, I should still be dead. I'm not sure it really matters, though. I mean, how ever it happened, we're here, aren't we?"

Kaede mulled over the astronaut's testimony. She'd never seen any sign that he was ill, but then again, three days wasn't a lot of time for an untrained eye to make a diagnosis. It was already an unlikely enough idea that she'd somehow actually survived her execution, but if Kaito had died of sickness of all things, how could their deaths possibly have been faked? Did… did Monokuma really have the power to bring back the dead? He'd already demonstrated absolute control over the world around them. He even managed to take their memories- Kaede's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. "Wait. Monokuma can mess with people's memories, right?"

Kaito quirked an eyebrow. "Apparently. No clue how, but he must be able to do something. Why?"

An odd, somewhat sickening feeling swept over Kaede. "What if he just made us think we died? What if…" Kaede sucked in a breath. "What if he lied about us being murderers? What if he faked our memories of our killings?" 

Pure dread filled her as she watched stunned horror slowly spread across Kaito's face. "Holy shit…" The Luminary whispered, a sickly blue tint overtaking him. "That… no way. I… I killed him myself. I'm sure of it…"

"I am too, but if he can fake some memories, how do we know he didn't fake those ones? Maybe-"

_ BZZZZZZT! _

"No, that's wrong!" Monokuma shrieked as he suddenly appeared between Kaede and Kaito, making both jump back with a yelp. He grinned, patting his sides. "Heh, whaddya know, that's actually pretty fun to say! And it's accurate, too, because you're waaaaaaaay off base here!"

Kaito shook a furious fist at the animatronic, his expression shifting into a hateful snarl. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about?! You screwed with our minds! If you can mess with our memories, why would we ever trust anything you say about us?!" He roared as he launched to his feet. Monokuma sighed heavily enough that she could practically see his mismatched eyes roll.

"Seriously, you don't understand it? Geez, you're slow! Fine, let's put on our Ultimate Detective hats for a second here and think this through logically!" The bear derided as he seemed to pull a hauntingly familiar cap out of thin air. Seeing Monokuma wearing Shuichi's hat sent an unexpected fury through the Ultimate Pianist.

"Where did you get that?" She demanded at the exact same time Kaito hissed out, "Take that off right now, you bastard!"

Monokuma ignored them completely and set a paw to his nonexistent chin. "Let's say I faked your executions and murders. That's a lot of stuff to make up, but okay. That would mean you're both completely innocent, right? But if I made all that up…" His red eye gleamed like a forest fire in a moonless night. "_ What's to say I didn't fake everything about you? _"

Kaede stared at him, unable to fully process his words for a few seconds. Once the implications of his words sank in, however, it was like a freight train hit her. She barely managed to stutter out, "Wh-what… what are you-"

Monokuma interrupted her with sadistic glee. "I mean, if I'm going to go through all that trouble to do that, why not just go 'screw it' and turn you guys into whole new people? Maybe you were a bunch of boring randos, and who you are now is just the product of my imagination!" His words twisted the metaphorical knife. It was like someone had thrown her in a freezing ocean without any warning. How else could someone react to being all but flat-out told they don't really exist? A bitter refusal waited on the tip of her tongue, just begging to be let out and scream at Monokuma until he shut up and told the truth, but it was frozen in place by the horror waiting just beneath his monstrous words. 

Kaito wasn't as inhibited. "Th-that's bullshit! You're just trying to get in our heads!" Momota roared, taking a threatening step towards the bear. Their monochrome tormentor didn't seem to care as he simply giggled at the astronaut's clear distress. 

"Oh? So you're sure you're real?"

"Of course we're real! I'm Kaito Momota, and I'm a human being, not your plaything, damn it!" 

His words knocked Kaede's senses back into her, detestment filling her gaze as she bored into their robotic overlord. "I'm not anyone but me," She growled, rising to her feet and crossing her arms warningly. She also took a menacing step forward to corner Monokuma between herself and Kaito. She knew it was pointless; he'd very easily be able to escape from them even without his tricks, and that was ignoring how he could just kill them flat-out if he were so inclined. Still, there was a grim satisfaction to seeing him squirm as they slowly inched closer one by one even if he was almost certainly doing it to mock them. Akamatsu threw out an accusing finger. "And I've never been anyone else! I won't fall for your lies!"

In an instant, the bear's mock-shaking stopped. "If you're real, that means I didn't fake your memories, which means…" He grinned evilly at her, holding out a paw in waiting. Her flash of anger slowly shifted away as the unspoken words rang loudly in her head. In an instant, the rush of confronting him was gone, replaced by the bitter reminder of the harsh truth. She quietly let out a breath, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Much to her dismay, however, Kaito refused to go out without a fight on any subject.

"Means what?! Stop screwing around and get to-"

"He means he didn't fake our murders," Kaede curtly forced out, unable to meet his eye. She squeezed her arm tightly in a vain attempt to comfort herself. "I… I thought for a second that there was hope we weren't, but… there's no escaping it. We really are killers."

"Ah, there's nothing quite like watching a young person's hope shrivel up and die! Takes me back to my college days…" Monokuma rambled irrelevantly, earning a spiteful look from both of them. Kaede could only keep it up for a few moments before slowly slumping back into defeat. Monokuma seemed to bask in her misery for a moment before announcing, "Oh well, I'm sure you kids don't have time to hear an old bear's stories. You've got places to see and people to kill, after all!"

"Just leave us alone already…" She hissed out, barely finding the strength to show defiance to the bear. Mercifully, he seemed to have gotten bored, bouncing back into the wall with only a giggle in response. The pianist watched the wall for a few seconds just in case he decided to make some grand reappearance before finally accepting that he was gone. She turned to Kaito, exhaling deeply. "I…" She trailed off pinching the bridge of her nose. She felt completely drained. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm in the mood to work out anymore."

Kaito turned to the side, a troubled expression overtaking his features. "... Yeah. I understand. Stupid frigging bear…" He caught the way she stiffened at the reference to their captor, making him clench his jaw a little. "Sorry. I thought it'd go smoother than this… mind if we tried again tomorrow?" He asked, a hopeful lilt painting his words. She couldn't quite bring herself to give a real smile, but she managed a tender quirk of her lips and a nod that set him at least partially at ease. A hint of his energy returned, putting a hand on his hip. "That's the spirit. We'll show him he can't keep us down. For now, though, get some rest. You've earned it." 

The duo made their way back to the dorms in an awkward silence, neither quite sure what to say. Under normal circumstances, that likely wouldn't have dampened Kaito's spirit, but it was clear that Monokuma's mind game had rattled him, too, even if he was trying to keep it from showing. It wasn't long before they reached the first deck and parted ways for respective cabins with a simple goodnight. Kaede's door locked behind her with a small _ click _ that once again isolated her from everyone else, the girl ghosting over to her bed and falling into it with barely a sound. Sleep didn't come easily or quickly, but eventually, she felt herself drift off to the fickle mercy of her dreams.

***

** _Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bing Bong Bing Bong!_ **

The TV flicked on in a hellishly bright flash that seared Kaede's corneas through her eyelids. She tossed a hand in front of her eyes with a hiss, blinking rapidly in a vain attempt to adjust her eyes to the sudden light. "_ Attention! This is your captain speaking! Ahem, goooood morning, passengers! It is now seven A.M., which means that daytime has officially begun! Rise and shine for this bea-utiful day! _" A slightly tinny voice announced. The pianist let out a groan as she started rolling out of bed before the morning announcement was even halfway through, stumbling to her feet uneasily. Her arm wildly swung for an alarm clock that wasn't there on muscle memory until Monokuma's grating voice finally resonated and made her remember her situation. 

_"Oh, right, I'm in a killing game," _Her brain dryly noted. She hated how normal that sentence was to her. For the briefest of moments, she pondered why Monokuma himself was giving the announcement rather than the Monokubs like usual until yesterday's events came rushing back to her. "... Oh. Right**.**" She quietly whispered, closing her eyes. Kaede slowly pulled herself back onto the bed with a sigh. Her entire body throbbed, angry bursts of pain flashing through her limbs with every minor movement she made. Clearly, between the phantom pains of her execution and Kaito's rigorous workout, quite a toll had been taken on her. Her soul hurt even worse from the ever-present guilt that had consumed her for what felt like a lifetime. Drowsiness and wakefulness pulled her back and forth, neither letting the other fully embrace her and leaving her feeling like a sailboat without a breeze. She stared blankly at the ceiling for quite some time before she let out a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair. "Okay," She said aloud, hoping the words that followed would be more inspiring if she could hear them somewhere other than her own head. "I'm alive. I don't know how or why, but I am. As long as I am, I have to help everyone else. I can't ever be forgiven for killing Rantaro… but I can make sure no one ever makes my mistake again. I can only do that if I face the day. So," She forced herself to her feet, taking a deep breath and pumping her fists to patch herself up. "Get out there, Kaede!" Akamatsu yelled at herself. Repeating the mantra as needed, she quickly freshened up, grabbed her backpack and left her room. 

The hallway was completely barren, as expected, but had at least turned the lights back on so she wouldn't have to wander around in darkness. "Let's see if anyone's up…" She hummed to herself as she pulled out her monopad and flicked it on, quickly scrolling over to the map. To her surprise, a number of people had gathered in the dining hall. That was a significantly better start than she expected after the previous day's disaster, serving to encourage her further. Gathering her courage, she made her way down the hall and pushed through the large doors. "Good morning, everyone!" She cheerily greeted with a beam as she entered. Everyone, in this instance, was a rather unexpected bunch: Gonta, Gundham and Korekiyo sat together at a table close to Mondo's locker, the Overlord of Ice seemingly having the Devas perform tricks for the other two. Gonta's eyes sparkled with delight as they formed a hamster pyramid before backflipping into Gundham's waiting hands. Korekiyo's gaze was more focused on the breeder himself than his animals, his enthusiasm only a touch more reserved than Gonta's. Three barely touched plates and a small bag of sunflower seeds sat forgotten in favor of Gundham's impromptu circus. Just behind them was Peko, sitting in such a way that she could watch the door and everyone in the room at the same time. The wall that had previously been there was now replaced with a window almost as long as the room itself, providing what would no-doubt be a wondrous view of the ocean if the outside didn't look so ominous. In the opposite corner of the room were the Ultimate Gambler and Maid. Celeste graciously sipped from a tea cup before holding it out for a moment before Kirumi diligently refilled it. The group of former blackened faced the door at the sound of her voice. 

The Ultimate Entomologist blinked at her in surprise a couple times, as if he was seeing a ghost. Which, now that she considered it, he kind of was. Still, given that it was Gonta, it didn't take long for that confusion to give way to friendliness. "Ah! Good morning, Kaede! Gonta glad to see you!"

Korekiyo tipped his cap. "Yes, good morning. I'm pleased to have you join us."

Peko gave a curt and wordless nod. Gundham set his hamsters down on the table with a low hum. "So the Siren's High Priestess has come to dine upon the spoils of the Apostle of Psyche with us… very well! If you wish to partake in the feast at this table of damned souls, I will not interfere. You shall find the offerings beyond this place, through the cavern where hellfire forges our ambrosia!"

Kaede held up a finger that slowly wilted. "Uh… what?"

"I believe Mister Tanaka is trying to say that I have prepared a breakfast buffet for everyone," Kirumi explained, gently setting her kettle down and approaching Kaede with a small bow. "Good morning, Miss Akamatsu. I hope you slept well, despite… recent events."

Kaede tried not to frown at the reminder. "I... got a little bit. Did you?"

Kirumi paused. Her expression didn't change at all, but her shoulders took on a sudden tenseness. "... I'm rested enough to perform my duties. Thank you for your concern," Tojo said carefully. Despite her words, the message was clear: 'I didn't sleep at all'. As Kaede studied her more closely, more and more evidence of that fact became apparent. Her hair was slightly disheveled by the maid's exacting standards while Kaede could faintly make out dark rings under her eyes obscured by a well-hidden layer of makeup. The maid's hands were wrenched onto each other tightly enough that the leather was visibly creasing under the strain. Kaede's lips tugged downward a little. Without really thinking about it, the pianist took Kirumi's hands in her own, surprising the emerald-eyed servant. "Miss Akamatsu?"

"Are you sure? You don't have to work if you're tired. Nobody will blame you if you need to rest." Kaede offered kindly. Understanding dawned over Tojo's features before she shook her head.

"I… I am truly touched, Miss Akamatsu. However, I assure you, I'm fine. Working… it's the best way to keep my mind off things. I would much rather be able to serve others than be trapped alone with my thoughts. I'm sure you understand."

Akamatsu's lips drew into a thin line. "... Yeah. I do," She conceded, crossing her arms. She looked Kirumi in the eye before continuing. "Just don't push yourself too hard, okay? You can't help anyone if you pass out."

Kirumi considered that for a moment before bowing her head. "... I will consider that a request, and as such, do my best to oblige it. Thank you, Miss Akamatsu," The silver-haired Ultimate graciously replied. She gently slipped out of Kaede's hold and stepped back. "If I may, I recommend you eat something. Would you like me to prepare a plate for you, or would you rather make your own selection?"

Kaede shook her head. "I'll get my own. Have you had anything yet?"

"It would be improper for a maid to do so before everyone is served. Do not worry, I will-"

Kaede crossed her arms imperiously. Fine. She had ways of getting what she wanted. "Kirumi, I request that you take a break and eat breakfast with me! That way, you can relax and not think about things because we're together. Okay?"

Kirumi's eyes widened. Once the initial surprise faded, uncertainty took its stead before ultimately giving way to a polite nod. "... I never turn down a request I can fulfil. Very well, Miss Akamatsu."

Kaede beamed, clasping her hands. "Great! I'm excited to see what you've got, Kirumi!" The pianist happily declared at her minor victory. The maid offered only a reserved smile in reply as she led Kaede through another set of double doors towards the back of the room. As she followed her friend, she missed the way Celeste's narrowed eyes followed her, burning with intrigue.

The inside of the previously unexplored room was like something out of a movie to the pianist; the walls carried the same red paint as the dining hall in significantly brighter lighting that boldly stood out against the white tile floor. Countless stoves and ovens lined the center of the room whilst counters covered in fresh, steaming food and sinks with pots and pans stacked neatly in the drying racks lined the walls. To their left was a large steel door that could easily be confused for a bank vault if it weren't for a digital thermostat built into it next to a similarly huge pantry. It was an incredible sight to see. "Wow… this place is amazing!" Kaede commended.

Kirumi looked perfectly in her element. "It is rather impressive. I have seen very few kitchens this well stocked. I suppose it makes sense that a cruise ship would have a professional setup, but it is still a pleasant surprise."

Scanning over the room again, the blonde haired girl noticed a row of papers in a box attached to the wall. "Hmm? What are these?" She asked aloud as she walked over and pulled one out. 

"Oh, Miss Akamatsu, I wouldn't-"

But it was too late, as she was already browsing through it. At the top of the page was a stylized outline of a woman wearing a small chef's hat laying suggestively on top of the words ** _"Sear Naked Restaurant"_ ** . Kaede quirked an eyebrow. "Huh? That's a weird name for…" Akamatsu never finished her sentence. She was much too taken aback by the various names of dishes rattled off throughout the page, each more shocking and distasteful than the last. "'Glory Stromboli'? 'Tide and Gagged Platter'? 'Strippin Wings'? Who on earth would ever give their dishes such perverted and twisted-" Her voice tapered out as the dots started to connect, her lips thinning. "... Oh. _ Oh _… this is Teruteru's lab."

Kirumi closed her eyes, something akin to frustration peeking through her calm mask. "... Mister Hanamura's mannerisms are somehow still a burden even when he isn't in the room. It's almost impressive."

Kaede awkwardly put the menu back, unable to shake the distinct sensation of her hands being dirty. Even with Teruteru's unsettling naming techniques on her mind, however, Kirumi's cooking was irresistible. Numerous trays were laid out, each containing rows and rows of exquisitely prepared cuisine. Sausage, bacon, eggs, various kinds of omelets, steamed rice with grilled salmon, miso soup, and just about anything else someone could possibly want for breakfast. Kaede struggled to limit herself given all the choices in front of her, but ultimately settled for a moderately sized sample platter with a glass of orange juice. Kirumi, by contrast, simply opted for a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee. Once their selections were made, the pair of Ultimates returned to the dining room. Given that Gonta's table didn't have enough space to sit two people, she was given the choice of Peko, Celeste, or sitting at an empty one. The latter would be incredibly rude, but when she tried moving to join the swordswoman, Kirumi discreetly whispered, "Miss Pekoyama informed the others and I that she would prefer to be alone. I believe she's willing to use her talent to enforce this."

Kaede hesitated, glancing between Kirumi and Peko, whose expression hadn't changed, but her warningly steely gaze was firmly locked on the pianist. Apparently, the silver-haired girl's hearing was comparable to Kaede's own. "Um… okay then…" She whispered to herself, her brow creasing a little. God help anyone that managed to make an enemy of Peko. Somewhat reluctantly, she approached the table of the biggest obstacle to peace other than Monokuma. The gambler was quietly reading, balancing a book in one hand and her teacup in another. The picture of grace in a number of ways, if one was unaware of her passively vicious personality. Mustering up as much enthusiasm as she could, Kaede greeted her unofficial rival. "Hey, Celeste! Do you mind if we join you?"

Celeste idly thumbed through her novel, not sparing Kaede a glance. "If you do not make yourself a bother, that is fine."

Kaede frowned, but took a seat regardless. After a few seconds of silence, she tried to bridge a conversation. "I'm glad to see you here. Does this mean you've changed your mind since yesterday?"

"Hardly. I am under no delusions about the reality of any of us. Your insistence on trust is still foolishly naive."

Kaede blinked, taken aback. "Huh? But… you're here, eating with the rest of us. You apparently trust Kirumi enough to drink the tea she made. Doesn't that mean something?"

Celeste gave a hum as she sipped the drink in question. "That much is exceedingly simple, truthfully: I do not trust Kirumi not to kill me. None of us would be here if we lacked the capability for that. I do, however, trust her not to do so in front of others or through such obvious means as poison," The gambler explained. She turned to the maid in question. "No offense intended, of course. You are merely the most convenient example."

Kirumi allowed the slightest downward curl of her lips. "... I appreciate your apology, but I assure you, I would not sully my duties as a maid with such heartless cowardice."

Kaede locked her jaw with a stern look. "That can't be it. You wouldn't do something that risky if you really thought there was a chance you'd get hurt. You've got to have at least a little faith."

Celeste sighed like a mother tiring of indulging their child's imagination. "I am a gambler, am I not? Is it a possibility that someone will kill me here? Theoretically, yes. However, I doubt anyone would carry out a murder this early after seeing your reactions. I was hungry, and the chance of death was a relatively minor one, so my choice was obvious. As long as the risk does not outweigh the reward, I see no reason to cower in my room and slowly starve," Ludenberg dismissed, pausing to take a sip of her drink. "Of course, that is not to say I blindly indulged myself. Gonta served as a rather eager test subject to see if the food was poisoned. Korekiyo and I waited until some time had passed and he still didn't show any symptoms. If allowing another to possibly die of poisoning is considered 'trusting', I am not certain I would want to be trusted by you, Kaede."

"That's horrible!" Kaede condemned. Celeste gave a humorless giggle.

"That is being realistic. There is no logic in trusting people I just met, especially given the circumstances. You might truly believe no one will kill again, but I require more than blind faith to be convinced."

Kirumi politely cleared her throat, drawing their attention. "If I may," She began. "While I cannot fault you for being cautious, an atmosphere of distrust invites a murder to happen. Would it not be wise to work with each other and ensure there is as little conflict as possible?"

"That assumes everyone is working in good faith."

"You're assuming they aren't." Kaede countered with a slight scowl. 

Celeste flicked her hair back with a sigh. "There is no way to be sure either way, which means that we are back where we started. To be honest, I find this conversation tiresome. We will never reach an agreement because we do not even have common ground to start from."

Akamatsu bit her lip. "... There's no way I can convince you otherwise, huh?"

Celeste hummed confirmingly. "I'm afraid not. Unless a month were to somehow pass without a single murder, I cannot bring myself to view anyone here as anything but a potential threat."

Kaede sighed, slumping a little. _ "Damn it… she's really determined not to cooperate, isn't she? It's clear friendship and hope don't mean much to her… is there another way I could convince her?" _The ahoged woman pondered. She idly stabbed at her eggs with her fork. Emotional and ethical appeals were useless. Celestia seemed to operate on pure, coldblooded logic. Kaede was no stranger to logical thinking, but it usually had her sense of justice serving as a guardrail keeping things in check. Thinking without those barriers was difficult… but not impossible. She had to ignore them when she devised her murder plot, after all. It was like walking around on a windy day without a jacket; uncomfortable and somewhat sickening, but entirely doable. Kaede needed Celeste to stop disrupting her attempts to unify the group, but Ludenberg was far too distrusting to play along and too conversationally skilled to beat in a debate. So what could she do…? She took a few moments to come up with a response before settling on her answer. "... I… can't say I'm not disappointed, but if there's nothing I can do, I guess I can compromise."

That got Celeste's attention, the gothic girl finally looking up at her with a hint of intrigue. "Compromise, you say?"

Kaede forced herself to swallow her pride and speak Ludenberg's language of bargains and manipulation. "Well… they say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? As much as I want to, I don't know if we'll be friends. But… that doesn't mean we have to get in each other's way. If you don't fight me when Kaito and I try leading everyone, I'll… owe you a favor."

Celeste's expression was unreadable. "A favor."

Kaede nodded. "Yeah. Whatever you need-" She immediately realized the implications of that and added, "-_ that won't hurt someone _\- I'll do it. Can you agree to that?"

Kirumi fixed Kaede with a measured look of concern while… _ something _danced just behind Celeste's predatory eyes, both of their reactions immediately making Kaede start to reconsider. "... Hmm. I did not expect such a thing from you, given your speech yesterday. I'm impressed," The gambler praised, the words almost serving as a condemnation of the Ultimate Pianist to her own ears. After several tense seconds, a small, pleased smirk spread across Celeste's lips. "My silence for a favor," She summarized contently, steepling her hands. "Very well. I accept your terms."

The distinct sensation that she had made a horrible mistake swept over Kaede, but she tried her best to smother it. This was good, right? Celeste was the primary threat to the group's unity. The others just either fell to her fear mongering or defended the logic more than the actions themselves. With the main instigator gone, she could focus on keeping a murder from happening. Managing a small smile, she said, "I'm glad. Um… should we do a handshake or something like that to seal it?"

Ludenberg laughed lightly, a touch of genuineness to it that had been missing for much of the conversation. "I don't believe that will be necessary. It would go against my interests to rescind my half of the deal, and besides, as you said, there is no need for me to make enemies for myself where there do not have to be. I'm sure you're aware that crossing me would be a poor choice. As such, this is one thing I believe I can trust."

_ "That's progress! … probably. I'll just have to hope that favor doesn't come back to bite me too hard…" _Akamatsu noted. Close to satisfied, the pianist began enjoying her meal. Kirumi's already astounding cooking was heavenly as she realized just how hungry she actually was. She hadn't actually eaten anything since the morning of Rantaro's death, and the forty-eight hours worth of hunger hit her all at once. She restrained herself as best she could, but her plate was spotless in a matter of minutes. She felt considerably more energetic now that she wasn't subconsciously fasting. "That was great, Kirumi! Thank you!" She cheered. Kirumi simply bowed her head.

"You're quite welcome, and thank you, Miss Akamatsu. I… probably needed this break. If you don't mind, however, I am ready to return to service."

Kaede frowned, but ultimately nodded. "Well, if you're sure. Just remember what I said, okay?"

Before the maid could give a response, the doors swung open with an almost thunderous crash that startled Kaede. She turned just in time to watch as Kaito confidently strutted into the room, a half-asleep Chiaki shambling in after him. "Morning, guys!" He called out with a grin so bright that it almost rivaled the candlelight. 

"Are you trying to wake the dead by creating such an unholy cacophony, Luminary?!" Gundham hissed, the Devas peeking out from his scarf cautiously.

"Is ungentlemanly to slam doors, Kaito." Gonta lightly scolded.

"Not to mention that surprising anyone here is a dangerous mistake…" Peko warned, a hand still on her sheath. Kaito scratched his head awkwardly.

"Sorry, my bad. I didn't think I was being all that loud," He apologized nonchalantly. He seemed to scan the room for a second before promptly strolling over and taking a seat at Kaede's table, leaning casually back in the ornate chair. "Hey, Kaede! Kirumi!" His enthusiasm dropped like a rock when he noticed the last person at the table. "Celeste."

"Kaito." Ludenberg's greeting was equally icy. Kaede could feel the ancestor of a migraine threatening to come on at the early signs of their bickering. Mercifully, Kirumi came to her rescue yet again.

"Good morning, Mister Momota. There is a breakfast buffet in the kitchen. Would you like for me to prepare a plate for you?"

Kaito waved a hand. "Nah, I'll grab something in a second. Chiaki could probably use something, though."

Kaede looked around to find the Ultimate Gamer. She didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned to see Chiaki passed out on Gundham's table, her classmates giving the girl odd looks whilst the Dark Lord merely rolled his eyes. Kirumi elegantly rose from her chair. "I'll get her a pillow and set a plate aside. Please, excuse me." Tojo graciously bid farewell as she left the room. Kaede turned to Kaito.

"Well, in the meantime, did you guys see anyone else while you were coming here?"

Kaito scowled slightly, crossing his arms. "No, but not from lack of trying. I knocked on everyone's doors. Everyone but Chiaki either didn't answer or told me to screw off." The Ultimate Astronaut bristled. 

"Hmm, I wonder why. Perhaps it has something to do with a stranger pounding on their door completely uninvited?" Celeste asked in a mockingly innocent tone, drawing a growl from Kaito.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" He demanded, glaring daggers into the girl directly across from him and shifting towards her. Kaede groaned.

"_ Please _ don't fight right now. We're supposed to be friends, remember?" She glanced at Celeste. "Or acquaintances, at least. Please?" She all but begged. Momota leveled a heavy glare at Celeste, who merely sipped her tea in response. Eventually, however, Kaito rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"Fine, whatever. I've got better things to talk about anyway," The purple-haired boy grumbled. Some of his more upbeat energy returned to him as he continued. "Like getting a feel for this place. I'm gonna be exploring upstairs after we wrap up here. Wanna tag along? It's a big place, so I could use the help."

Eager to steer the conversation away from something that would make the two fight, Kaede clasped her hands. "Sure thing! We should try to find out as much about this place as we can. Maybe Monokuma left another escape route somewhere..."

Celeste quirked an eyebrow. "Pardon me, but did you say _ another _escape route? What do you mean?"

Kaede tilted her head. "In our game, there was a tunnel filled with boobytraps that led to the outside world. Didn't you have one?"

Ludenberg looked somewhere between intrigued and annoyed. "Certainly not. In my game, Monokuma made it quite clear that killing was the only escape. Had there been such a simple exit, I wouldn't have risked an executive." The gambler dourly stated.

"Did you not hear the part about it being full of traps?" Kaito grumbled back.

"_ Anyways _," Kaede forcefully interrupted. "It's definitely worth taking a look around. Do you want to come along, Celeste?"

"I must decline. I have little interest in blindly wandering around an unfamiliar building. That is why I sent Hifumi earlier, but he has yet to return. If you two find his body, please wait until I've finished reading before you have someone else activate the announcement. I would rather finish this book before standing around for hours at a trial."

_ "She's joking… right?" _Kaede worried in her mind, grimacing. Kaito looked like he was about to slam a fist down on the table in sheer outrage, spurring her into action before things could get any messier. "It won't come to that. I won't let it."

Celeste opened her mouth to retort, but slowly closed it with a slight air of tempered frustration. Kaede wasn't one for smugness, so she hid a smirk by taking a drink. Kaito beamed, not at all trying to hide his feelings. "You got that right," He declared. He shifted his head to look at the others throughout the room. "Hey guys! We're gonna explore the ship! You in?"

Korekiyo gave a small nod. "I must admit, I'm intrigued to see more of this place. I believe I'll join you."

"While I already know what awaits us, as such is the wondrous burden of the All-Seeing Eye, I suppose it might be amusing to observe how lowly humans go about such an endeavor," Gundham agreed, closing his eyes with a conceited smile. It turned into a slight sneer when his eyes opened, however. "But if this is an attempt to trick us, Luminary, I assure you that nothing could save you from the hellfire of my wrath that would await. Tread lightly, sinner, lest you fall into the flames of damnation from your own folly!"

Kaito flashed a thumbs up like he hadn't heard Gundham's threat. "That's what I'm talking about! What about you, Peko? Can I count on my sidekick?"

"... I still haven't agreed to that," Peko bluntly denied. Pursing her lips, she continued. "But Gundham is correct. I'm willing to explore. Betray us at your own peril."

"A hero that betrays his sidekicks isn't a hero at all!" The astronaut refuted. Kaede jumped back as he suddenly stood and propped a foot up on the table so hard that Celeste's teacup clattered. "I, Kaito Momota, swear on my life that I'll never turn my back on anyone here! Not even if they turn their back on me!"

"Get your filthy foot off the goddamn table, you swine!" An unfamiliar voice howled out. Kaede gazed in absolute shock at a rather frazzled Celestia. Her pale features were contorted into sharp, angry lines that accentuated a hateful glare. Not a soul dared speak up. Even Kaito was stunned into silence. A couple seconds later, it was like a switch flipped, the monstrous expression almost instantly slipping back into a neutral mask and her more usual voice. "... Pardonnez-moi."

"Uh… okay then..." Kaito slowly conceded, putting his foot back on the ground. A deafening silence reigned until he coughed awkwardly, finally finding the guts to continue the original conversation. "A-anyways, how about you, Chiaki? You're in, right?"

The gamer in question still looked haggard, but was at least paying attention now. "... Sorry, but no. I'm a little worried about the others. I think it would be better if I tried talking to them. We can meet up in a few hours to talk about what you find. Is that okay?"

"Not giving up, eh? Good on you. How about you, big guy?"

Gokuhara tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Gonta… think he stay, too. Gonta want to protect all friends, but if you all up there, Gonta should be with Chiaki. Ah, if she okay with that."

Chiaki tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "Yeah, that's fine… I think."

The doors softly creaked open as Kirumi returned, a stack of blankets and pillows balanced on one arm while she opened the entrance with the other. She barely got three steps on the door before Kaito bombarded her. "Hey, Kirumi! We're checking out the boat! How about it?"

The maid blinked before giving a nod. "If that is your request, I'll fulfill it as best I can." Tojo gracefully accepted. She made her way across the room and offered the beddings to Chiaki, who sluggishly wrapped herself in the blankets with a sleepily muttered 'thanks'. 

Kaito slammed his fists together. "Alright! It's decided, then! Waiting on you guys!"

People trickled out over the next few minutes. Peko was the first to leave, carrying her plate to the kitchen and walking out of the room without another word. Gundham followed suit shortly after, though he opted to give a grand speech that she understood maybe every third word of. Upon making sure that her services were no longer needed, Kirumi joined them on their way. As the room cleared out one by one, Kaede couldn't help but notice how few people were actually left. Excluding Celeste, who had long since returned to her novel, when the last of the exploration group departed, only Chiaki and Gonta would remain. They alone would be responsible for somehow convincing their more isolationist members to rejoin the group. Kaede smiled at them. How good hearted of them, staying behind to help the others despite everything that must have been going on for themselves. _ "It's really admirable. They're doing so much good, and…" _

Then it occurred to her that she was about to leave two convicted killers alone with six _ other _convicted killers. Two people that were considerably weak in opposite ways. For all the gamer's hope and cleverness, Kaede doubted even she would struggle to overpower Chiaki. On the other hand, Gonta was a force to be reckoned with physically, but he was too kind for his own good. If one went down, the other would probably follow shortly after. Try as she might to keep it off her mind, the thought plagued Kaede even as she, Kaito, and Korekiyo left the room and started on their way to the second deck. Over and over the worry played out in her head. Sure, it might be relatively easy to figure out who did it, but that wouldn't bring her friends back. She considered her options as she walked. She could stay, but she wasn't much stronger than Chiaki. Someone needed to be there that could protect Chiaki physically and Gonta mentally. That gave her a pretty clear candidate. The only thing needed now was some privacy to broach the subject. They were about halfway to the stairwell, so she didn't have much time to think things out. "Hey, Korekiyo?" She addressed. The anthropologist stopped in his tracks and met her gaze. Kaede hesitated for only a moment before gathering as much resolve as she could manage and following through with it. "Could you give Kaito and I a minute? We'll meet up with you upstairs."

"Huh?" Kaito questioned. He went completely ignored by both other students.

Shinguji looked at them curiously. "Certainly, though I'm curious what exactly is so sensitive that it must be kept a secret. It's somewhat unlike you," He noted with intrigue dancing in his eyes. "Still, I shall grant you your privacy…" With that, the man chuckled lightly, strolling lankily down the hall.

The astronaut cocked an eyebrow at her. "Uh… wanna explain what exactly's going on?"

Kaede sighed, pursing her lips. "I know it was your idea to go exploring, but I'd really appreciate it if you helped Chiaki and Gonta out."

He cocked an eyebrow, turning to face her fully. "Huh? Why?" He said confusedly. After a moment, something seemed to click with him. "Look, if this is about Celeste, I'm sorry. She just really gets on my nerve-"

Kaede shook her head. "It's not that. It's just…" She bit her lip, sighing. "I want to trust everyone, but right now, you're the only one I _ know _I can trust. I think we can trust Chiaki, and Gonta's too sweet to ever willingly hurt someone, but he's really naive, and Chiaki's pretty small. If someone wanted to hurt them… I don't know. I'd just feel better if you were holding down the fort until the rest of us got back."

Momota grimaced. "Do you really think someone would try something?"

Kaede gained a soft scowl. "I don't know. It's not like last time, Kaito. There's no doubt what any of us are capable of. I know I'm a hypocrite for saying this, but… we can't let it happen again. We have to stop this killing game, even if it means distrusting our friends."

Kaito didn't respond for a long moment, cleary contemplating her words. When he finally did, it was more deliberate and careful than she would have thought possible from him. "... I think I get it. I mean, I'm the one who told you to doubt who you need to. You're just trying to look out for everyone, right?" He asked, getting a wordless nod in turn. "Thought so. You're on the right track, trusting someone else with your doubts instead of winging it on your own. It means you've learned from last time."

"Does that mean you'll do it?" She inquired.

Kaito put a hand on his hip. "... Yeah. You can count on me, Kaede. Nothing will happen on my watch. I'll prove to you that we can trust them, and if I'm wrong, we'll handle it together. Besides, I've got some experience getting people to open up when they're trying their hardest to push everyone away, so I might be able to get a couple people to come out," He assured her, a wave of relief coming over her. He folded his arms, looking her in the eyes. "But are you gonna be alright without me?"

Kaede's lips turned downward. "What, do you think I wouldn't be? I can handle myself, Kaito."

Momota shook his head. "Nah, it's not like that. I believe in you. Just needed to know you did too," he explained. A smirk played across his face as his hands fell back to his hips, striking a heroic pose. "My sidekicks are only sidekicks compared to how legendary I am. If you couldn't take care of yourself, I wouldn't leave you alone. Alright, you convinced me. So go on and investigate already! Don't leave a stone unturned! Give Shuichi a run for his money!"

Kaede couldn't help but roll her eyes at his grand hero act even as a small grin grew across her features. "Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Detective? It has a bit of a ring to it, but trench coats and fedoras aren't really my style," She joked back. The newly minted detective pumped her fists. "But I'll still do my best! I'll see you and the others later. Remember, I'm counting on you, too!"

"That's my sidekick! Blow 'em all away!"

Having hyped each other up, Kaito and Kaede parted ways, the former walking back to regroup with Chiaki and Gonta in the dining hall while Kaede went to do the same with the exploration group. The halls didn't seem nearly as long now that she was back to peak performance and so she found herself on the second deck in no time. Just as the first time she explored the ship, she was presented with the choice of a door on either side of the room or a path forward. Unlike last time, Korekiyo was waiting by the door to her left, examining it closely. She pivoted to join him with little hesitation. After all, multiple people exploring at once would speed things up, right? Besides, it'd be better to be able to talk about her findings in real time. "Hey, Kiyo!" She called out, drawing the anthropologist's attention.

"Ah, Kaede. Wasn't Kaito going to join us?"

Kaede held out a hand an explanation. "He's with Gonta and Chiaki trying to get the others to leave their rooms. I figured we had enough people up here, and he could probably be more helpful downstairs." She half-admitted, skipping over the more inconvenient aspects of her reasoning. 

He hummed a little. "Hmm… yes, given his time with Maki, I suppose he would have experience with that sort of thing. Regardless, I was just about to begin my investigation. Would you care to join me?"

She nodded. "Yep, that's the plan! I think we should start with this place," Kaede motioned towards the closest opening. She turned to face it, giving it a good look for the first time. Before the pair stood a large paper door that stood out like a sore thumb against the golden yellow walls of the deck. It bore the same unfamiliar crest as the one she'd seen the day prior, though this door was easily twice the length. Her fingers traced lightly over the paper, feeling old yet firm against her skin. "Starting with figuring out what exactly this place is..." She pondered aloud. Korekiyo hummed from behind her.

"I suspect it's a dojo of some sort. This is a traditional shoji door not just in visual design, but in construction as well. I'm sure you've noticed the texture of it. I'm certain that this door is made out of washi, likely at least two-hundred years old. Such care and effort wouldn't be wasted on anything less meaningful."

Kaede balked as she turned to face him. "Huh?! You can tell that just by looking at it?"

Shinguji raised up a finger, closing his eyes. "Partly. The scent of it, its coloration, and the texture are all clues of its age. I've explored many ancient dojos and temples in my time, and in doing so have come to learn the intricacies often hidden in plain sight. Of course, without proper equipment, I can only give a rough estimate."

"That's really impressive, Kiyo!" The blonde praised, clapping her hands together. "I think I know what that's like. If I get a good look at a piano, I can usually get an idea of how well made it is and get a good idea of how it sounds without even pressing the keys." She compared, trying to ignore how her hair stood on end when she thought of the instrument. Korekiyo thankfully either didn't notice the change or was simply polite enough to overlook it given what they both knew happened.

"Indeed. When properly trained, the eye can notice a great many things most people would easily overlook. It is a pleasure to encounter someone else with such a talent."

As impressive as it was in its own right, it reminded Kaede of something that had been nagging her about the structure. "You've studied a lot of languages, right, Kiyo? Can you read that symbol on the door?"

Korekiyo held out a hand, as if preparing to launch into a lecture. "Certainly. It is in _ kinsei nihongo _, an antiquated form of Japanese from five-to-two-hundred years ago. Admittedly, this was the most obvious clue to its age. My pre-modern Japanese is not quite as fluent as I would like, but I believe it means, 'The Dojo of House Ogami.'"

Kaede's eyes widened with realization. "So this is Sakura's lab? I wonder what a room made specifically for the Ultimate Martial Artist looks like... let's check it out!" She excitedly declared, marching forward and sliding the door open. The inside was like she had stepped through time and space itself, rows and rows of cherry blossom trees slowly snowing their petals onto a gravel patch leading towards an archery range to her left. That section of the lab, miraculously, had a bright blue sky and shining, much to her delight. "Look, Kiyo!" She called out as quickly made her way to the trees and stared up at the wondrously normal stretch of sky, holding out a hand to bask in the sunlight...

Only to have a wave of confusion hit her when she felt no difference in heat. "Huh? What's going…" The words died in her throat as she narrowed her eyes at the so-called sky and noticed what looked to be brush strokes. "... Oh. It's not real," She sighed out in disappointment. It didn't take long before that disillusionment to turn into annoyance. "That's a really cruel trick! Playing on people's hopes like that… can't he just _ not _ be horrible for once?" Kaede denounced their kidnapper, crossing her arms tightly as she glared at the embodiment of false hope. After a few moments of harsh looks, she gave up on the archery range and turned around to explore the rest of the room in hopes of relieving her sour mood.

Directly in front of her was a spacious square mat that took up nearly a fourth of the gargantuan room. A number of practice dummies stood like sentinels in a back corner, made up of everything from straw to almost log-thick wood. Several bow staffs of varying sizes were placed in descending rows, the longest of which spanned six and a half feet from end to end. Various other martial arts weapons were displayed just below, to Kaede's mild concern. She was somewhat assuaged by the fact that they were complicated tools like nunchucks and bamboo blades and thus unlikely for most people here to actually do real harm with them, but it was worrisome all the same. Nearby was a medium-sized display case filled with various knick knacks that seemed to intrigue Korekiyo as he made his way over to it. When Kaede looked over it, there wasn't much she could take away from it other than most of it being old and kind of neat looking. "Keheheheh… this is truly marvelous. This," He pointed to a small wooden statue of a rather muscular looking man crossing his arms, the expression on its face as hard as the wood it was made from. "Was crafted in the Edo period, likely the mid seventeen-hundreds. Observe the fine hand carving and the smoothness of the wood. That's not to mention…" He proceeded to go on a somewhat lengthy lecture explaining the historical significance of each of the many items littering the display. Kaede didn't particularly mind. It was fun seeing him be so passionate about something he was into, given his usually reserved manner. It was likely about twenty minutes before he reached his conclusion. "... If these are fake -which I very much doubt- they are the most convincing forgeries I've ever laid eyes on, and a work of art in their own right." Kiyo cooed.

"I can't imagine how long it took you to memorize all this, Kiyo. It took me years to learn just Beethoven's works, let alone all the other classical artists." Kaede confessed in astonishment. Kiyo bowed his head slightly, raising a finger like he had another lecture prepared already.

"While I learned a great many things from reading records, nothing compared to experiencing such cultures in the flesh. To live as those who came before us did is to become them, from a certain perspective. Combining the two gives the fullest understanding of humanity a person can manage. Ah, but I'm afraid I've gone on a tangent. We should continue our search."

Kaede nodded, stepping away from the antiques. "Right. We can talk more about it later," She promised. With most of the room covered, all that was left was the right side of the room, which contained a more traditional gym. Bench presses and exercise machinery took up most of the room, everything from standard treadmills and ellipticals to complicated looking multi-workout systems spread throughout. Dumbbells and weights from five pounds to a shocking one-hundred pounds were neatly arranged in escalating order on shelves. Carts stuffed with basketballs and volleyballs alike stuck to the wall opposite the main entrance offered themselves to anyone interested, as well as a couple of duffel bags, whilst a giant tire and a sledgehammer of all things waited in the back corner by the side exit. Kaede stared at it, tilting her head slightly. "... That seems kinda dangerous, but at the same time, I'm not sure anyone but Sakura or Gonta could even lift that thing. I don't think we really have to worry about that..." The words _ "I hope" _went unsaid. 

Kiyo tsked slightly. "Indeed, though I'm personally more interested in its intended purpose. The Ultimate Martial Artist's training regimen must be something truly incredible to witness."

A bit of curiosity rose in Kaede. "Have you studied much martial arts, Kiyo? I imagine they're probably important to a lot of cultures, right?"

"I'm more familiar with their cultural origins and influences than the techniques themselves, I'm afraid. I certainly wouldn't be able to match Sakura either in knowledge or physical capability," He explained, slowly looking across the array of equipment. "Kaito might want to hear about this place, assuming he's still inclined to those nightly workouts of his."

"Oh, he is. We were training last night." Akamatsu confirmed.

Korekiyo looked pleasantly surprised, though it was a little difficult to tell between his mask and cap obscuring so much of his face. "Is that so? In that case, would you mind if I observed, Kaede? You and Kaito make for an intriguing duo..." His voice slithered with a hint of anticipation.

Kaede's smile twitched a little. Even with how much Korekiyo had grown on her in the short time they'd known each other, he could still be unbelievably creepy at times. Still, it'd be rude to outright refuse a relatively harmless request, even if it was slightly unsettling. "Um… you'd have to ask Kaito, but I don't have a problem with it," She compromised. It thankfully seemed to appease the anthropologist, as he didn't press any further. She took a minute to reexamine the room for anything of note, but found nothing she hadn't already looked at. Satisfied, she turned to her somewhat sinister companion. "I think we checked out everything here. Are you ready to move on?"

Shinguji shook his head. "Not quite yet. I would like to take a closer look at these heirlooms and antiques, if you don't mind. I believe they may give me a better understanding of Sakura and her motivations. If you wish, you can continue without me."

The pianist hesitated. On the one hand, that was completely in line with Korekiyo's behavior, and probably not all that ominous. On the other hand, Korekiyo apparently had experience killing trained fighters if he managed to murder Tenko, and so leaving him alone in her lab to possibly plan something didn't sit well with her. He'd probably pick up on her distrust if she insisted on staying, making just waiting him out not an option. Of course, it wasn't like she could do much to actually stop him from staying either. She mulled over her options as quickly as she could manage before resolving to find a way to tip off Sakura without targeting her against anyone. Easier said than done, but that could be said for most of her goals. On the outside, she kept up her bright and trusting facade, offering him a small smile and a nod. "Okay then. I'll keep looking around, and if we don't catch up with each other while we're up here, we'll meet in the dining hall for lunch around noon."

Kiyo ran a pair of fingers around the brim of his hat. "Until then, Kaede." He bid farewell. With that, she left the room, hoping that she made the right call.

Kaede gently slid the door closed behind her as she walked out into the hall. Down the hall, she could see the distinctive black and white keys that made up the door of the Ultimate Pianist's lab, and she tried her best to ignore the lump in her throat at the sight. She shook her head to banish the hellish memories and instead forced herself towards the room she'd met Tsumugi and the others in the day prior. She'd already taken a cursory glance, but what would taking a deeper look hurt? As she approached the door, she could hear the soft clicking of heels from the other side. She cocked an eyebrow. Who would be in there already? Akamatsu pushed the doors open to find Kirumi startling a little, swerving on her heels to face the intruder. "Kirumi?"

The maid's surprised features dulled somewhat, quickly falling back into a neutral expression. "My apologies, Miss Akamatsu. I wasn't expecting you. Please, forgive me. I'm… reflecting, at the moment." Tojo gracefully apologized, bowing her head. 

"It's fine. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have just barged in unannounced like that," Kaede apologized. Kirumi didn't reply beyond a quick assurance not to worry about it, glancing around the ornate room with a sort of wistfulness she wouldn't have expected from someone like her. Awkward silences had become a far too common occurrence, but given everything they'd went through, Kaede couldn't blame most of her peers for not being especially chatty. It didn't take long for her to try and reach out to her prim and proper friend. "Kirumi, I… might be overstepping here, but I think I know what you're going through," The blonde said softly. Kirumi's eyes widened a hair, but she otherwise gave no reaction. "I don't know what happened after… _ after _, but it's obvious you're remorseful about it. You're not some heartless monster, no matter what it might feel like. You can talk to me whenever you feel like it."

Kirumi stared at her, her expression unreadable. "... Your compassion is inspiring, Miss Akamatsu. I truly appreciate it."

"I don't know about that, but anything I can do to help, I'm willing. Just say the word," Kaede reaffirmed. Thankfulness leaked through Tojo's measured expression for a moment before the silver-haired teen looked back to the fancy hall surrounding them. The pianist studied it for a short time, finding nothing had changed since her first chaotic visit. The Victorian aesthetic gave the room a distinctly European vibe now that she was actively looking for everyone's Ultimate Labs, but something didn't seem to click. "This place reminds me of Celeste a little, but I don't see what it has to do with gambling. Whose lab do you think this is?"

"It's mine. It's almost identical to the one I had back at the Academy. A little smaller, perhaps, but a remarkably close impersonation. It seems Monokuma did not want to waste time redesigning existing labs..." Kirumi stated simply, but a pang of regretfulness infected the undertone of her words.

"I think this place fits you pretty well. It's clean, beautiful, prim and proper… the whole room just screams classy. Or, says it in a politefully loud voice, I guess."

Akamatsu joked lightly in an attempt to cheer her up. The small tug up of the maid's lips came as quite a relief.

"I appreciate your kind words, Miss Akamatsu, though they aren't necessary. It's simply part of a maid's duty to be respectable in every possible way. An untidy maid is simply paradoxical."

Kaede gave a soft smile. "You seem to take your work as a maid pretty seriously, Kirumi. Even in a situation like this, you're still devoting yourself to everyone, even if… well, honestly, it makes it easier for someone to take advantage of you."

Kirumi spared her a glance, giving a small shake of her head. "My motto is selfless devotion, Miss Akamatsu. It doesn't matter the situation; I am determined to do my best for everyone's sake, and I do not wish to change that here. Doing such would only further tarnish my reputation as a maid, and I refuse to allow that to happen."

"I see… so, being a maid is that important to you, huh?"

"Of course. Just like how being a pianist is an important part of your identity, being a maid is an important part of my own, and one that I wouldn't trade for anything." 

Kaede hummed. The pianist thought it over for a few seconds as she looked across the wide array of brooms, brushes, vacuums, and other cleaning tools. Glancing back at Kirumi, a sense of curiosity compelled her to ask, "Not to sound rude, but... why a maid? I mean... was it something you always aspired to be? I meant to ask back at the academy, but…" She trailed off, her eyes falling to the floor. Mercifully, Kirumi didn't seem inclined to comment on her sudden silence. 

"... Not always," Tojo admitted after a brief pause. "In fact, when I was younger, I actually considered the idea of being a servant quite degrading…" She sighed quietly. "To be honest, I find my younger self's immature mindset to be quite embarrassing in hindsight."

With her curiosity piqued, Kaede pressed onward. "What ended up changing your mind? I mean, going from finding it degrading to it being your entire passion is a pretty big jump."

"I suppose you could say that it was something of an epiphany. Once when I was only about nine or so, I ended up becoming friends with someone who was considered by other kids to be a 'complete freak'; she had no idea how to talk to people, her hygiene was somewhat lacking, and although she was quite intelligent for her age, and capable of memorizing large chunks of information quickly, her grades were actually fairly subpar."

"A freak, huh?" Kaede echoed ruefully. "I can kind of relate to that. Before I became an Ultimate, most people just said I was weird and avoided me. It… wasn't a great feeling."

Kirumi faced her, giving her a sympathetic look. "I believe I can understand. While I felt that she had potential to be a lot more than what she was, at first, she was convinced that she could never amount to anything. She had been growing more and more detached from everyone else, isolating herself in order to spare herself their harsh words. Eventually, it became so upsetting to see that I decided to try to assist her."

"Were you able to?" The blonde questioned. Tojo gave a nod.

"Over time, I was slowly able to help her become the person she could be. Though she never was able to talk to people she didn't know particularly well, her grades and hygiene improved, as did her general mood. Her self confidence grew enough to where she started searching out new things to do with herself, and though she moved away before I saw it for myself, she apparently ended up developing advanced computer security software that was utilized by multiple companies around the world." The well-dressed Ultimate explained with a sense of fondness Kaede had only heard her use when agreeing to other people's tasks. A nostalgic smile rested on her lips as she closed her eyes and bowed her head towards Kaede. 

"That's incredible!" The pianist praised. "It sounds like you were a really good friend to her. After all, without you, she probably wouldn't have had anyone she could count on. Helping and being there for people are the best things anyone can do, and you're so willing to do both. You're pretty cool, Kirumi."

Kirumi's reserved smile grew, something akin to delight tinting the maid's expression. "It seems you understand it perfectly. While a childhood friendship is hardly the same type of relationship as the maid work I now do, I learned that the basic philosophy behind the two is nearly identical: by devoting yourself to helping others, you are able to bring out the best in them. You're able to bring out people's true potential, which helps not only them, but the world around them as well. That is why I'm willing to devote myself to my work, even here. So, please, if you ever have a request for me, do not hesitate to seek me out."

The Ultimate Pianist stared at her friend in awe. "Wow, Kirumi. I had no idea you saw things like that. I'll be sure to ask, but," She pumped her fists supportively. "From now on, I want you to come to me for help, too. Consider me an apprentice maid!"

A small chuckle pittered out from Kirumi with an ease in her shoulders that Kaede couldn't recall ever seeing before. “I appreciate the gesture, Miss Akamatsu. I will be sure to keep that in mind going forward.”

Kaede smiled a little sheepishly, holding up a finger. "You really don't have to address me as miss, Kirumi. We're both teenagers. Please, call me Kaede."

"... If you insist, Kaede."

She beamed, clasping her hands together. "Great! Ready to head out?"

The maid managed a small smile of her own. Sparing one last glance to the room, she bowed her head. "I believe so. Please, lead the way, Kaede."

And with that, the pair of blackened left the lab and continued their search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korekiyo forced me to do research on Japanese art history. I am officially weeb scum.
> 
> Because V3 kinda shafted her, have a headcanon backstory for Kirumi, courtesy of my lovely cowriter!
> 
> These kind of ended up becoming FTEs, whoops, but still, plot! Now, I'm sure you're all wondering when someone's going to bite the dust, and the answer is soon. It's just important to get these things set up right and give everyone a moment to shine.
> 
> Hope it was worth the wait!


	5. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Daily Life Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede and Kirumi continue their investigation, Celeste starts a plan, and Monokuma gets bored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finals are over with, so for the next five weeks, I can put my full focus on this story! Apologies about the delay, but I hope this chapter lives up to it!

The halls of the ship seemed to get shorter every time Kaede walked them. Whether that was simply her growing more accustomed to them already or the fact that she had a decent idea where she was going this time was a mystery, but regardless, it felt like less of a hassle to get around. Of course, that also meant that she got somewhere she'd really rather avoid much quicker than she anticipated. Just down the hall from Sakura and Kirumi's labs resided an unwanted reminder of her fate, one that was clearly visible even from the opposite end of the corridor. Kirumi's presence did little to help in the face of Monokuma's mockery of her talent.

As Kaede stared at the door to her talent lab, she couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or cry. It was only yesterday that she looked at the unique, well-crafted mockup of her beloved instrument with unbridled excitement and disappointment when it refused to open. When she looked at it now, though, all she felt was bile in her throat and her knees threatening to give out from beneath her. It took considerable effort to keep on her feet given her sudden wave of nausea. She despised the fact that she was afraid of a god damned _ door _of all things. It was literally just a few feet of material cut into a rectangle, yet when she looked upon it, she was back in the execution chamber feeling her life slipping between her lips with each strangled gasp. She stiffened when a gloved hand gently grasped her shoulder. "Kaede, are you alright? You look rather pale."

"I-I'm fine," Kaede dismissed a bit too quickly. The lie was as blatant to both of them and the look in Kirumi's eyes made that abundantly clear. Kaede bit her lip, looking down at the floor. A tired sigh escaped her as she squeezed her arm. "It… just brings back painful memories. I know it's stupid, but..."

Kirumi shook her head. "Traumatic experiences are not 'stupid', Miss Aka-… Kaede. It's a symbol of something better left forgotten. If I may, it's clear that you are suffering from a form of PTSD. While I can't recommend ignoring it entirely, it is crucial you don't fixate on it if it's bringing you such distress," The maid stressed. Kaede shook her head, forcing herself to take a shaky step towards the door, but Kirumi moved to block her path. "I'm afraid I must insist on this. Your goal is to help our peers, and as your maid, it's my goal to assist you as well as I can. For the moment, I recommend that we move on. Someone else can explore your lab. Forcing yourself to confront these memories before you're ready will only worsen them."

Kaede's frown deepened. "... Are you sure you're not the Ultimate Psychologist, too, Kirumi?" She joked lightly in a vain attempt to lighten the suffocating atmosphere around her. Kirumi was unphased.

"An understanding of psychology is needed to serve my masters to the fullest. In my early days as a maid, I had a master that slowly destroyed himself by stretching himself too thin and refusing to ever properly address the pain of his past, obsessing over it and insisting he was fine instead of taking the needed steps to overcome it. I saw hints of his turmoil, but never saw it fit to confront him about it until it was far too late," Tojo noted with a hint of lamentation. She closed her eyes for a long moment before reopening them, determination brimming in her visible emerald eye. "Since then, I've made it part of my duty to understand my employers' mental and emotional states and assist them as need be. While I cannot force you to take my advice, I implore you to at least consider it."

Akamatsu silently mulled over her friend's words. How exactly was she supposed to properly address being slowly suffocated and beaten to death, all while being humiliated as she butchered the easiest piano piece in the world? Or that she suffered that fate for slaughtering one of her friends? Piano had always been her respite from the worst of her fears and anxieties, and now it was squarely at the heart of them. Kirumi had said it herself; being the Ultimate Pianist was an integral part of who she was. What good was a pianist that had a panic attack every time she thought of the instrument? What would that make her? She had to be strong for everyone, even more so than last time. Why waste time sitting around and worrying over worries when she could try to solve them instead?

At the same time, she'd been the one to tell Kirumi the importance of stepping back and realizing limits. She couldn't really be strong for anyone if she was wrapped up in her own self-pity and suffering, could she? That much was true, but she could count the amount of people she could trust on one hand, and the number of people she could confide feelings like that to on a single finger. Even then, just because Kaito was trustworthy didn't mean she could just freely share every worrying thought that came to mind. She couldn't confront her problems yet, but she refused to just run away. Kaede had no doubt that somewhere on the boat, Monokuma was cackling like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. Without much other recourse, she simply asked, "How? What can I do to fix this?"

Kirumi gave an apologetic look. "To be blunt, I don't know for certain. Everyone comes to terms in their own ways. All I can offer is my unyielding support."

Not the answer she wanted to hear, but if even Kirumi was at a loss with all her years of experience, it was impossible for Kaede to come up with any reasonable counter argument. She glanced at the black and white carving over Kirumi's shoulder, and upon feeling her gut twist at the sight, she realized her endeavor was pointless. "... Well… okay. I don't like the idea of giving up, but… we'll move on for now." The ahoged girl conceded. Her stoic companion gave the slightest hint of relief, letting her shoulders drop a bit.

"Thank you. Shall we continue?"

Sparing her lab one last glance, Kaede choked down her pride and turned away. "Yeah. Let's see if we can meet up with the others…" And with that, the pair of Ultimates went on their way. Kaede very deliberately forced herself not to think about anything to do with her talent, instead doing her best to mentally recall the layout of the ship. The monopad's map hadn't updated yet, probably waiting until they manually explored before giving them a cheatsheet. After a few minutes of wandering down the barren halls, they finally arrived at the corner of the corridor containing the ballroom. The second stairway at the end of the vast room was still locked up tight, the steel shudder as grand and imposing as the last time she saw it. While she knew the ballroom was waiting somewhere to the far right side, what caught Kaede's attention was a door on the far left she hadn't noticed during the commotion of meeting Kaito, Peko and Hifumi. "Do you know what that is?"

"I'm afraid not. When Mister Hanamura, Miss Ogami, and I awoke, Monokuma ordered us to the ballroom almost immediately. There wasn't much time to look around." Kirumi admitted. Undaunted, Kaede took the lead.

"Well, let's check it out!" She declared. A brief time elapsed before they stood in front of a bulkhead just barely taller than Kaito, painted just a slightly different shade of yellow than the surrounding walls. It was almost completely nondescript aside from a small sign labeling it as the boiler room. Kaede tilted her head. "A boiler room? Aren't these usually at the bottom of a ship?"

"It is peculiar to have it on the same level as guest facilities, but if we're on a sufficiently low level, it would still make sense logistically… perhaps this ship wasn't originally intended for passengers, and Monokuma simply repurposed the vessel?" Tojo suggested, putting a finger to her chin. Kaede smirked a little.

"Is it just me, or does he keep using hand-me-downs and hoping we don't notice?"

"Hehe… it would be impolite to say, but I do not think you're wrong."

The pianist gripped the valve and spun the door open without too much effort, the lock surprisingly light. The bulkhead slowly creaked open to reveal a steam filled chamber bathed in crimson light. Heat rushed out to meet them in an instant, hitting the pair like a brick wall. Kaede cringed at the burst of warmth, glancing at her companion. "I'm not really looking forward to this, but if Monokuma were hiding something, it would probably be in here. We should look around," she deduced. After all, who would actually _ want _ to spend time in a boiler room? Kirumi nodded in assent before the blonde stepped into the room. The second she was inside, however, the door instantly slammed shut behind her, throwing the room into an even deeper darkness and creating a gust of air that blew her hair like a flag in the wind. She spun on her heels in an instant, pushing on the exit bar to no avail as it simply rattled in place without any hint of giving way. "Kirumi?!"

"Kaede! The door is stuck. Can you move it from your side?" Kirumi's slightly muffled voice rang from the other side.

"No, it won't budge!" She called back, shoving into it with all her might on the off chance it might finally push open. When it didn't after three attempts, she huffed, taking a step back. "It's no use. I don't think we can get it open alone… try finding one of the others, Kirumi. I'll look around in here and see if there's an emergency release or something."

"I'll be back shortly. Please stay safe." Kirumi politely requested. A part of Kaede that wasn't freaking out couldn't help but appreciate how mannerly Tojo was even in the worst circumstances. Kaede faintly heard the sound of the other woman's heels rapidly clacking down the corridor before gradually fading into nothing, a wordless declaration that she was now alone. Taking a deep breath of the sulfury air, Kaede gathered herself.

"Okay… this is weird, but you've got this!" She encouraged herself, pumping her arms in the air. She regretted it a moment later as the taste of ash found its way into her mouth. She sputtered a little, but that was hardly the only thing wrong with the room. Her eyes strained in the poor lighting as she tried to examine her surroundings, though there wasn't much to see when her eyes finally did adjust. Pipes and gauges lined the narrow walls whilst the constant hum of machinery and occasional hiss of escaping steam gave a somewhat eerie soundtrack to the room. Much of the walls, she realized, were actually the boilers themselves, massive cylinders of heat and power that could easily be mistaken for walls in the poor light. Small clouds of steam rolled across the floor like fog, obscuring her shoes behind a heated mist. Everything about it was inviting a migraine that took most of her focus to stave off.

Of course, that wasn't even taking into account how unbearable the heat alone was in the absolutely sweltering halls. The pianist had barely taken ten steps before it started getting to her, only getting hotter and hotter the further into the maze like rows of equipment she went. If one looked closely, they would see the air warping and simmering as it rose off the pipes. Kaede shifted uncomfortably in her woolen vest, pulling at it in a vain attempt to give herself some cool air. _ "G-geez… I guess they're called boilers for a reason. I'm practically melting in here!" _ Akamatsu whined internally, wiping the sweat from her brow. She forced herself the trudge onwards, rounding a corner, and the process repeated itself over and over again. Her weary eyes roved over her surroundings with dismay as it became increasingly apparent that there was nothing that would help break out. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

_"Well, this sucks. Hopefully Gonta or someone can force the door open soon. I should probably just head back there and… wait, what's that?" _Her thoughts were interrupted as she rounded one last corner and found herself in front of a wrought iron gate. "... Is that an elevator?" Kaede whispered. She took a few cautious steps towards the structure, and-

"_ One, two, Kuma's coming for you… _" A chorus of eerie, high-pitched voices harmonized, sounding like they were whispering directly into her ears. Kaede swirled around, desperately searching the dreary corridor only to find it completely barren. The voices would be frightening enough on their own, but combined with the menacing dim red lighting of the room and the hellish heat, it was borderline terrifying.

"Wh-who's there?!" She demanded. Her fists clenched tightly enough to feel her nails digging into her palms, but that was the least of her concerns at that moment. Less than a second later, the horrible shriek of metal dragging against metal pierced the air somewhere behind her. She spun on her feet once more and worriedly took a few steps back at the sight of a trio of claw marks that tore across the elevator entrance. The devilish giggles that echoed from everywhere around her sent shivers down her spine despite the hellish heat.

"_ Three, four, better lock up your door! Puhuhuhu… _" 

"Knock it off! I'm warning you!"

** _BANG!_ **

A cataclysmic clang roared out from her left. She swiveled to find one of the boilers' coal doors slightly dented, a tiny fist clearly denting the metal from the inside. Again and again something slammed against the door, each bang sending her another step back. She wanted to run, but shock and fear kept her rooted in place. With one final punch, it slammed open, a burst of flames casting the room in a brilliant orange except for a sinister shadow that fell directly on her. Something small and impossibly fast leapt out at her with glinting knives in hand and a low, bone-rattling roar. Kaede shrieked, desperately throwing her hands in front of her face in a last-ditch effort to save her life. Her eyes clamped shut and waited for an end that never came. 

"Puhuhuhu… huhuhu… ahahahaha! Gotcha!" Monokuma's grating voice mocked childishly. Kaede opened her eyes to find the bear cackling in her face, resting his paws on his stomach. He wore a ratty fedora and a striped red and black sweater while his claws glinted brightly in the fire's glow. Kaede's terror quickly shifted into fury.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! That's not funny!" She growled, angrily shoving a finger in Monokuma's face. He just laughed harder.

"Says you! You should've seen your face!" The monochrome monster chortled obnoxiously. He wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. "Oh, my. Between you and good ol' space case freaking out about ghosts, I've got a regular pair of of scaredy cats! Maybe I could just cancel the killing game and have a show about scaring the crap out of you two!"

Akamatsu glared daggers into him, crossing her arms tightly. "Is there a point to this?" She tersed out. Monokuma tsked at her.

"Geez, you offer to make someone a star, and they just spit in your face? Kids these days are so ungrateful! But fine, if you really wanna know, I'm here to tell you this place is off limits to all students! Until further notice, coming in or out of this room without permission will be severely punished!"

Kaede scowled, gritting her teeth. "Seriously? Why not just lock the door? Why's it even off limits, anyway?"

Monokuma smirked. "Why, because then I wouldn't have gotten to mess with you! As for why it's off limits? Because I said so! That's why! You can explore this place when I say you can; it's not my fault you came in before it was ready!" He yelled, raising his paws above his head. "So scram before I cut your chords, piano freak!"

Despite her annoyance, fear of death proved to be a powerful motivator. Akamatsu didn't take the threat lightly, bolting through the cavernous halls and rounding every corner at full speed. She only sped up once the bulkhead came into view, charging and pushing against it with all her might. She let out a startled yelp when it gave way without any resistance, sending her tumbling to the floor with an undignified 'oof'. Before she could even process what had happened, a pair of firm hands were gripping her. "Miss Akamatsu! Are you hurt?"

She tried to look at the source of the voice, but had to slam her eyes shut again as the bright lights of the corridor set her irises ablaze like she'd stared directly at the sun. It was a solid ten seconds of constant blinking before she finally managed to make out the image of a rather concerned Kirumi staring down at her. Catching her breath, she rasped out, "N-no, I'm fine. Monokuma just scared me a little, that's all," Kaede downplayed. She hadn't noticed just how hard it was to breath in the boiler room until she was finally out of the hellish sauna. Taking a moment to appreciate the comparatively frigid air, she continued. "He says the boiler room is off limits."

A man scoffed. "You were simply frightened? You screamed like the damned smoldering in the deepest pits of hell itself." Gundham grumbled, scowling a little.

"Gundham? What are you doing here?" Akamatsu questioned, making the Dark Lord cross his arms.

"The Apostle of Psyche sought my aid in rescuing you from the boiler room. By the time we arrived from the ballroom, we heard your shriek. What did he do?"

Kaede bit her lip, somewhat embarrassed. She considered making something up, but obviously lying about something so minor wouldn't be particularly endearing to the others. "He… jumped out at me." She confessed lamely. Tanaka just stared at her.

"And?"

"Well, nothing. That was it… hey, don't look at me like that!" Kaede self-consciously defended. She felt like a child whining about a bully kicking her sandcastle. The Ultimate Breeder glared at her in clear annoyance.

"Do you mean to tell me Monokuma was able to reduce you to such terror just by catching you off guard?" He demanded. 

Kaede rose to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the eccentric teen. "Of course it sounds silly when you phrase it like that! If you were there, you'd have been scared too!"

Gundham rolled his multicolored eyes. "I, Gundham Tanaka, rattled by a mere bear? Hmph. Fear truly is the silliest of mortal emotions. To think one such as you could not only become daunted so easily but also underestimate my power is disappointing beyond measure, Siren."

Kaede opened her mouth for a comeback, but slowly closed it again. "You know what? Nevermind. Let's just put that aside for now. Did you find anything?"

Tanaka chuckled conceitedly. "Didn't I tell you already? The power of the All-Seeing Eye makes all in this realm clear to me. Of course the Forbidden One discovered something!" Gundham boomed, striking a pose. His hamsters fell into formation almost instantly. "Prepare to be enlightened, mortals! Behind the veil of illusion cloaked around the stage awaited a deceptively small yet wickedly powerful lift, no doubt capable of carrying even the boulder of Sisyphus with ease!"

"I'm uncertain what we could do with that, but it is worth noting, I suppose. Did you find anything else, Mister Tanaka?" Kirumi asked, apparently having taken out a small notebook at some point.

"Were that my only discovery, I would hardly see it fit to share it at all. There is more to tell. With the aid of the Four Dark Devas, I was able to find a passageway to the aether of the stage! There, I discovered a box of infernal power that I corrupted to my will! While it did its best to expel me, its meager power was nothing against my demonic might!"

Kaede took a moment to mentally translate from Gundham to English. "... Wait, are you saying you found a circuit breaker above the stage? Do you know what it connects to?"

The Overlord of Ice smirked smugly. "But of course, sinner. The ancient glyphs marked each switch's particular spell. It holds sway over everything on decks one and two. After consulting with the Devas, I found the secret to its power cycle and have claimed the light as my own! Day and night bend as I command!"

Kaede's eyes lit up. "Um, if I'm not mishearing you, you're saying you changed it so the lights don't turn off at night, right?" She asked. He grinned, opening his mouth to launch into another grand ballad about himself, confirming it. Before he could, she clapped her hands. "That's really helpful, Gundham! Thank you!"

He looked… disappointed, almost. Something like recognition and regret glinted in his eyes before he blinked and turned his head. "... You're welcome," He said plainly. The Devas looked up at him in concern, crawling up his shoulder and nibbling on his ear in between worried squeaks. The sudden change of character lasted only a moment before he cleared his throat and crossed his arms haughtily. "Nonetheless, those were my findings. If there is nothing else, I must go find a suitable offering for the Devas, lest they unleash pandemonium upon this realm. Farewell, mortals." He declared. With that, he strolled past them bearing a stone mask of an expression. Kaede watched on in bewildered concern.

"Is it just me, or was that was weird even for him?" Kaede pondered aloud. 

"I'm inclined to agree. He seemed rattled by something, and given Mister Tanaka's general attitude, that is no easy feat..." Tojo murmured, an unreadable look in her emerald eye. Kaede could almost see the gears turning inside Kirumi's head with each passing second. 

"What's on your mind?"

Kirumi's eye flicked to the pink-clad girl, Tanaka, and back again. The hesitation struck Kaede as rather unusual for her, but given everything, perhaps it would be stranger if there wasn't some caution. "... I'm debating whether or not I should keep an eye on him. While everyone no doubt has their own trauma to confront, I am unsure it's wise to leave him alone at the moment. While I technically haven't sworn to serve everyone here, I would still consider it a failure of my duties to not offer any and all aid that I can," She deftly explained, the only change in her body language the slightest tilt of her head. Something darker played out across her features as she continued. "Additionally… at the risk of sounding rude, Mister Tanaka's grasp on reality often seems tenuous at best. Unchecked mental scarring combined with his existing delusions could result in something rather dangerous."

Kaede felt her brow knit in concern. "It's kind of hard to imagine a guy like that hurting, but now that you mention it, I think I can see it. In that case, you should go after him. He probably won't acknowledge anything's wrong, but maybe just being there for him would be enough."

"I agree, but to be perfectly honest, it's out of similar concerns for you that I hesitate," Kirumi confessed. Akamatsu was rather taken aback by the statement and it must have shown from her expression as the maid gave a calming gesture. "You're a strong and kind-hearted person, Kaede, but you seem to forget that you're a _ person _. I do not wish for you to overwork yourself in my absence, or find another trigger, for that matter. I cannot allow it in good conscience both as your maid and your friend."

A refusal was waiting on the tip of Akamatsu's tongue, but she hesitated. While she didn't like Kirumi's implications that she didn't know her own limits, she was also self-aware enough that she was stubborn and prone to rash decisions. She simply couldn't debate Kirumi on that front. Simply promising she wouldn't do something stupid likely wasn't enough, given her trackrecord. A solid argument would be needed. It wasn't as if she wanted Kirumi gone, but it was imperative to keep tabs on the more unpredictable members of the group. Just then, a realization struck her. "... Well, that's true, but… whether I should be or not, I'm kind of the leader here, right? In that case, I should look after everyone. If you keep an eye on Gundham for me, that would help keep me from stretching myself too thin. As far as the other thing, I can't promise much other than I'll try to be careful," She rationalized. Kirumi didn't look convinced, so she added, "I want to make sure everyone's alright more than anything else. Please?"

The emerald eyed Ultimate scanned her for a long moment. Kaede almost felt like a whiny teen begging their mom to stay out late, but given their interactions in the past, Tojo would probably resent the comparison. After some clear deliberation, Kirumi finally gave an answer. "... On the condition that you will immediately return to the dining hall if you suspect a stressful episode might be starting, I will fulfil your request. If you fail to do so, I will have to insist on being your escort for as long as we are trapped here. Is that acceptable?"

Kaede nodded sharply. "Yes. You have my word, Kirumi."

"Very well then. I shall accompany Mister Tanaka until I'm certain of his emotional state. Do you have a rendezvous time in mind?"

"I told Korekiyo to meet us in the dining hall at noon. I'll let the others know if I run into anyone."

Kirumi bowed her head respectfully. "Then I shall see you then. Take care, Kaede." With that and a small curtsy, she started on her way after Gundham.

***

Once again alone, Kaede wandered the halls almost aimlessly. She'd already explored everything on the portside of the ship from stern to bow, and given she didn't particularly want to re-explore the ballroom, the pianist got the idea to more or less hug the wall from the dancing hall's door and simply follow along it from there until she found something of note. It wasn't a particularly thrilling or fast journey, but it would ultimately prove worthwhile as she finally came across another door after about five boring minutes of searching. She'd almost literally stumbled upon a pair of double doors emblazoned with Monokuma's cackling face. The bright neon lettering above the door labeled it as the Cruise Giftshop. Kaede rolled her eyes at the tacky decor. _ "Geez. His ego is insane…" _She grumbled to herself. 

The door had no visible handles, but a quick push opened up into a somewhat small room absolutely packed with knicknacks of every sort. Snowglobes, Monokuma dolls, cameras, just about anything and everything a person could imagine lined the walls, furniture, and even parts of the ceiling, which had a grand mural of Monokuma parodying various works of classical art. Christmas lights hung like party streamers. Occasionally interrupting the shelves of miscellaneous items were fake movie posters that starred the black and white bear in a new genre on each one. The floor was a black and red checkerboard design with bright white walls and a display case that stretched the entire length of the room from the door to the back wall contained even more junk. The icing on the unappealing, disgustingly egotistical cake was the horrendous music blaring out over the speakers, some sort of bizarre jazzy reggae tune that lacked any sort of cohesion or basic musical value to the pianist's ears. Everything about the room was vaguely insulting to anything that could be defined as good taste. Monokuma, she decided, was clearly not the Ultimate Interior Designer. As distracting as the gaudy decorations were, however, her focus quickly shifted to a rather portly boy playing with a familiar gashapon machine in the back corner. Kaede smiled as she called out, "Hifumi! Hey!"

His unearthly screech sent her slamming her hands to cover her ears in an instant, wincing in agony as Hifumi's scream rivaled an opera singer's highnote. He launched a foot into the air and fell in a massive flop that shook one of the shelves loose and promptly sent it and the dozens of items on it crashing down on top of him. His cries of terror were only replaced by whines of pain. "Ugh… oooh… the pain is too much... Hifumi has fainted!" 

Kaede covered her mouth in horror, rushing to his side before she even fully realized what happened. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! Are you okay?" She frantically questioned. Hifumi stared blearily up at her.

"Mistre- no… Miss… Akamatsu?" He said testingly, as if he weren't entirely sure of it himself. 

"Yeah, it's me," Kaede confirmed, silently growing worried. The large boy tried sitting up only to fall on his back again, groaning. "Here, let me help," She instructed. She pushed the shelf off of him and roped her arms under his. "On the count of three, try standing up, okay? One, two, three!" The pianist declared. Her eyes became the size of saucers as she realized just how large Hifumi actually was the moment she tried lifting him to his feet. She only barely managed to keep herself from toppling over while hoisting him up. After some considerable effort from both parties, the boy finally found his footing, though Kaede was nearly exhausted by the time he finally managed it. "Hoo… are… you okay?" She wheezed out between huffs of air.

"Hmm… yes, I think so," Hifumi replied as he took out a small pink scrap of fabric and quickly cleaned his glasses with it. Apparently having reset himself, the blazer-bound teen finally seemed to fully acknowledge her. "Thank you for helping, Miss Akamatsu!"

She waved it off. "No problem, but sorry for scaring you to begin with. That was pretty rude of me."

"Oh, that. No need to worry about it, Miss Akamatsu. I simply thought my Mistress was here..." He elaborated, and Kaede had to fight off a wince.

"Uh… right…" Was all she managed to say without shuddering. It said a lot that he was possibly the creepiest person around given the fact that Teruteru and Korekiyo were also on the ship. Shaking her head, she quickly changed the subject. "So, what are you doing up here, anyway?"

The boy pulled on his backpack straps triumphantly. "Miss Ludenberg told me to explore for her. I've been looking around for hours. It asks much of me, but for my Mistress, it's worth it!"

_ "Weren't you just playing with that slot machine when I came in…?" _Kaede mentally noted. Letting that slide, however, she pressed on. "Have you found anything interesting?"

"Behold!" He declared, swinging his backpack in front of him and unzipping it to reveal a handful of those golden coins Monokuma stashed around the Gifted Juveniles Academy. Clearly the bear hadn't stopped, though Hifumi had apparently picked the deck clean long before her arrival. His voice gained a slightly haughty tone as he explained, "It’s not much to see now, but earlier, there were dozens and dozens of them. I scoured every nook and cranny to find these. Point and click games are usually lame, but currency isn't a bad reward for such labors… speaking of that, Miss Akamatsu, may I borrow your backpack?"

The pianist quirked an eyebrow. "Huh? Why?"

Hifumi pointed to a large clutter of junk, half on the table and half collapsed to the floor. "To help carry the spoils of my efforts, of course. Miss Ludenberg is bound to be pleased by at least some of this, right?"

"You're giving all of that to her?" Kaede questioned. It was a relief when Hifumi shook his head, but that relief was dashed just as quickly by his words.

"No, as far as she’s concerned, most of it wouldn't be fit to get crushed under her heels. It's hardly worthy of even a lowly swine like me. I'm searching for a diamond in the rough to earn her approval! Feheheheh…" The portly boy declared in a tone bordering on obsessive. Kaede's lips formed into a stiff frown.

"... You really shouldn't let someone treat you like that, you know. You shouldn't talk about yourself like that either," She lightly scolded, more pitying him than anything. "Everyone deserves at least basic respect. Besides, you're an Ultimate, right? You should be proud of yourself and your talent!" Akamatsu's voice carried enough confidence to hide the feeling of hypocrisy bubbling in her.

The bulbous Ultimate dramatically threw his hands on his hips, raising his chin up until the lights whited out the lenses. "Do not misunderstand, Miss Akamatsu! In the realm of 2D, I am a being beyond compare! An undisputed king of kings! My mastery of the pen is my entire reason for being! It is only before the majesty of my Mistress that I am but a pig. The feeling of her praise, her scorn, or even her heel on this humble servant's back is the only thing that can compare to the joy of anime!"

Kaede felt her stomach turn._ "Okay, yeah, _ ** _definitely _ ** _ the creepiest guy on the ship," _The pianist thought to herself with a cringe. Hifumi was thankfully(?) too absorbed in his own unsettling declaration to notice her discomfort. Despite that, however, he glee in his voice as he described Celeste's casual abuse of him made something inside her snap. "That… that's horrible! How can you be okay with that?!"

The brunette's grandiose pose slowly slumped into a sad shadow of its former self. "... Miss Ludenberg is the only girl that's ever been honest with me without making fun of me. She might be a bit scary, sure, but at least she notices me and doesn't just laugh. Until her, I thought people like that only existed in 2D. She's the first friend I've ever had. A little bit of pain is worth having someone like that, isn't it?"

In that moment, nearly all the discomfort she felt towards Hifumi transformed into pity. The weird and unsettling aspects of him were clear as day, but in light of his confession, so was his obvious loneliness. Someone written off as weird and a freak because of their interests… how could the Piano Freak herself disregard someone whose story seemed to mirror her own? Sure, he was geeky and awkward, but so was Korekiyo, and she considered him a friend. Besides, she wanted to bring everyone closer together, and everyone included Hifumi. As such, the small smile she offered him was the most genuine she could manage. "Well, if you'd like, I could be your second real friend."

"Huh?" Was his only initial response, eyes going wide behind his thick glasses. It wasn't long before those same beady irises squinted suspiciously at her. "... And why would someone such as yourself want to be friends with someone like me? People don't just want to be friends with me. I don't fall for so-called nice girls that just want to stab me in the back, so if that's what you're thinking, don't even try it!"

"What? No! That's even worse than what Celeste does!" Kaede quickly refused in a slight panic. "I want to be friends with you because I know what it's like to be alone because of your hobby! I know it might be hard to believe, but before I met the others, I didn't really have friends either. I was an outcast because people thought I was weird for playing the piano so much. People can be cruel, kids especially. So, I want to be your friend because I'd want you to be mine, if that makes sense." She sincerely sympathized. He stared at her uncertainly.

"Hmm… your charisma and speech stats are considerable, Miss Akamatsu. Against anyone else, they'd be totally OP. For myself, however… well… alright. I'll open up my frail, mortal heart and soul to you, but let me be clear that I will not tolerate any betrayal! I simply couldn't take it!"

Kaede tried not to wince at the accusation. "Never," She agreed. What went unsaid were her more morose thoughts. _ "I'm done betraying my friends. I promise." _

Hifumi rubbed his chin with a hum. "Then, in that case, I suppose we can start working on this social link. I've never tried something like this with a girl before… I wonder if those dating sims were right about the completion reward…" He muttered to himself. Kaede forced herself not to think through the implications of that and instead changed the subject. Thankfully, she quickly realized a perfect way to learn more about the unfamiliar Ultimate.

"Um… well, to start, we never actually properly introduced ourselves. I don't think I ever got your last name or talent. I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist." She offered a grin as bright as the full moon.

"Why, I am Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator; the Alpha and the Omega! I am a knight on a holy crusade to cleanse the world's ignorance of fan works!" Yamada dramatically declared, adjusting his glasses in what he doubtlessly thought was a cool fashion. Kaede tilted her head.

"Fanfic? What's that?"

"Say WHAAAAAAAAT?!" He screeched, Kaede cringing in pain at his voice like nails on a chalkboard. Absolute horror rocked across his face like an earthquake before it snarled into something bordering on anger. "Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!" Hifumi suddenly thrusted a challenging finger towards her. "I cannot permit this! If we're going to be friends, you must be fully informed! I shall present my lecture on fanfic until all preconceived notions are blown away like the worthless strawmen they are! Furthermore, I need to know the full extent of your familiarity with the greatness of 2D!"

The blonde raised her arms up defensively. "H-huh?! I still don't know what that means!"

"Then my lecture is even more important than I thought! You see, the art of 2D as it's known today started in…" Kaede could only sit there and awkwardly take in his long winded rant about the history of anime and the concept of fanfiction. She couldn't exactly deny that parts of it were interesting -Hifumi could be a shockingly good story teller at times, apparently living up to his talent- but that didn't change the fact that she was having her ears talked off by the Ultimate Geek for what must have been at least half an hour about what boiled down to cartoons and how his work focuses on 'humanity's basest urges'. It was like if Korekiyo was an absolute otaku. By the time he finished his ramble, Kaede could only stare and blink at the triumphantly posing Yamada. "... And that concludes the abridged history of fanfic and 2D! Well, Miss Akamatsu? Was it an enlightening experience?"

Kaede hesitantly held up a finger. "So… you make comics based on anime?" She summed up uncertainly. Hifumi sighed.

"Well, yes, in massively simplified terms, I suppose that's accurate. I guess that's fine for a newbie. In future sessions, however, I expect to see improvement!"

_ "He seems relatively happy… I think this went well!" _Kaede mentally noted. She glanced at one of the numerous clocks on the wall -this one an obnoxious character clock of Monokuma, his monochrome paws pointing in opposite directions- to find that it was ten-forty-five. “I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, Hifumi, we’re meeting up in the dining hall around noon. Do you want to join us?”

“Hmmm… yes, I believe that should be acceptable,” He confirmed. Upon glancing at the pile of junk he’d collected, Yamada’s lips slumped downwards. “Less acceptable is this… this trash! How could I possibly turn up to Miss Ludernberg empty-handed, or worse, giving any of _ that _to her?! You’d think I’d get something decent with all the coins I put into that thing, but no! My luck is the polar opposite of the average shonen hero’s!” He ranted, clenching a fist as if he wanted to punch his collection. A long, dramatic sigh escaped him as he shook his head. “I give up… hmm… perhaps your luck would be better, Miss Akamatsu? I’ll lend you my coins as long as you let me have anything REALLY good for Miss Ludenberg.”

Kaede still wasn't thrilled with his obsession with the gothic gambler, but given their talk, it was clear calling her mistreatment out wouldn't change anything. "Sure, I'll give it a shot. Thanks, Hifumi," She accepted the other Ultimate's coins with a grateful smile and testingly put one in the machine. She held back the urge to roll her eyes at the machine's dramatic show of beeps and bloops for a good ten seconds before spitting out a rather large prize capsule. How Hifumi managed to sit through all that dozens of times, she'd never know. Pulling it open, she found a rather colorful DVD case of some anime she didn't recognize. She tilted her head as she examined it for a moment and held it out to the Ultimate Fanfic Creator. "Huh. Do you know this one, Hifumi?"

His beady eyes widened excitedly. "Huh?! Holy cow! Your luck stat must be maxed, Miss Akamatsu! That's the complete series of Notes of Nevermore! Why, this might just be the perfect anime to introduce you into 2D, at least until I can find some Princess Piggles episodes."

"What's it about?"

Hifumi raised a finger, grinning like a professor that just got asked to rant about their favorite subject. "Notes of Nevermore is a three season anime about a struggling pianist in 1920s Tokyo that ends up owing a considerable debt to the Yakuza. While working for the Yakuza to pay it off, he encounters an eccentric Irish paranormal investigator poking around one of the yakuza's dump sites. They get into a fight, only for him to accidentally read out a spell from the other guy's journal that summons the spirits of every body buried there! Bullets, swords, any kind of mortal weaponry is useless against them… unless the right set of notes are played to interfere with its energy, hence the piano connection. Now, he has to work with an unlikely ally to hunt the angered spirits all across Tokyo! Cool, right?" Yamada excitedly declared.

"Actually… yeah, that does sound pretty cool!" Kaede agreed, reading over the back of the box. Watching anime had always seemed a little geeky to her -not that she was the sort to make fun of people over that, of course- but she couldn't deny that the premise intrigued her. It sounded like fun, at least, and offered a way to better connect with one of her new friends. A win-win from her perspective.

Hifumi's grin only grew. "Aha! Perhaps my luck isn't so bad after all! You're a much more eager student than Mr. Naegi was. I'm quite familiar with some of the behind the scenes details of this show, you know. We should watch it together so I can inform you as we go along!" He rubbed his chin, brow furrowed in thought. "Hmm… I wonder if there's anyone else who would be willing to join in…"

Kaede hummed as she thought it over. "Well, Tsumugi would probably be interested if we could get her out of her room, and I think Gundham would be into the paranormal stuff in it. Maybe some of the other guys, too."

Hifumi launched back into one of his overly dramatic poses, deepening his voice almost comically. "It's decided then; an anime viewing party for all that can appreciate the superiority of 2D! We'll meet in my room after lunch!"

_ "2D superiority…? That… doesn't sound healthy. Still, I think this is a win." _The blonde mused. Externally, she asked, "Looking forward to it! What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"I'll be taking this junk back to my room and seeing if there's anything worthy of Miss Ludenberg's gaze. For all her many virtues, an appreciation of 2D and fanfic are not among them. Oh, that reminds me, could you carry some of it? There's no way it'll all fit in mine. Feel free to keep those coins as payment."

The pianist somewhat reluctantly relented, putting the coins, DVD, and as much of Hifumi's collection as she could reasonably carry into her backpack. She was eager to help a friend, but considerably less so to be a pack mule. He confirmed that she could simply drop it off in his room when she came to the anime screening. Bidding each other farewell, Kaede resumed wandering around the long corridors of the ship. 

The next several minutes passed by more or less unnoticed, Kaede too busy thinking of what exactly she would do once the others were finally lured out of their rooms to care about the boredom. It hadn't seemed important at first, but now that there was a legitimate chance they would be out and about soon, she had to come up with some sort of plan. As long as there was distrust between them, murder was almost inevitable, but how could she convince them to come together? Even without Celeste's meddling, paranoia and suspicion ran rampant. The killing game had a way of corrupting people against each other. Throw in the fact that they were all convicted killers, and a difficult situation becomes a borderline impossible one.

She would need a long term solution sooner rather than later. Setting up things like her plan with Hifumi were great for individual trust building, but until she could unify the entire group, they were all in danger. Of course, that was assuming that was even possible. The fact that she unified the students back at the Academy was remarkable, and she had lost that credibility when she killed Rantaro. The musician knew she likely couldn't pull the same thing off again given their circumstances. Worse than that, however, was the fact that she had no clue what she actually _ could _do. There was no mastermind she could hunt down, no secret exit to the outside she could lead everyone through, not even a detective to help unravel the mystery. The only thing she had for sure were her own wits. A dark part of her found it somewhat fitting. She betrayed everyone, so she got thrown into another killing game without the slight advantages she had in the first one as her true punishment. Regardless of how much she deserved it or not, though, Kaede refused to fail again. Her general plan was more or less to keep having events like that until either as many people as possible formed a connection or she got a better idea. Less thorough than she was particularly comfortable with, but nothing about her situation was comfortable.

Those thoughts would have to wait, however, as she found herself in the corridor leading back to the first deck. Sakura's lab awaited on the opposite wall from where she was standing, marking the entrance to her left the final accessible part of the ship she hadn't explored. _ "I guess this is it. There's still about an hour before we meet up, so I should be able to get a pretty good look in here. Not much of a mystery who it belongs to, though…" _

The door before her was a giant Ace of Spades, making it exceptionally obvious whose lab it was. She hesitated for only a moment when the thought occurred to her that Celeste probably wouldn't want her to step inside, but she quickly dismissed the worry. If Celeste really cared all that much, she would have been upstairs with everyone else. Keeping that in mind, Kaede entered the room and was immediately hit with the stench of booze and old lingering smoke, making her nose crinkle in distaste. A very faint film of smoke seemed to cover the room nearly top to bottom. Electronic bells blared out in a discordant din in the background, the flashing lights of at least two dozen slot machines spread throughout the room. Four grand chandeliers provided lighting for the gambling hall, each about fifteen meters apart from each other. Red carpeting and curtains combined with the pure black ceiling and dark stone walls to give the casino a truly gothic feeling. 

It was a touch difficult to see from where she was standing, but the back left of the room seemed to have a cafe of some sort, a few chairs and tables equipped with tea sets and plates with minor snacks. About twenty feet away were a few scattered poker tables, each one looking big enough to seat six. Some sort of racing game brightly advertised itself nearby, accompanied by a few other games and booths. A pair of roulette tables weren't far from them. All in all, the room seemed to be an odd mix of an old castle and a somewhat sleazy casino, containing both the elegant architecture of the former and the uninviting atmosphere of the latter at once. If she didn't have to explore for the sake of the others, she would probably have simply left before the smoke started bothering her any more than it already was, but she pressed on.

Directly in front of her was what seemed to be a large circular building with **EXCHANGE **printed out in flashy Broadway lettering repeating over and over. She could clearly see a number of gated teller's windows lining the structure, though the only attendants seemed to be cardboard cutouts of Monokuma. Standing in front of one of those windows was Peko, her back turned to Kaede, and her arms seemingly crossed. The pianist only managed to take a single step before Peko's hand flew to her sword, though the silver-haired warrior didn't bother turning around. "Identify yourself. Now."

"Uh, hi, Peko," Kaede awkwardly greeted, rubbing her head. The swordswoman eased ever so slightly, gradually relinquishing her hold on the sword and turning to face the pianist. She steeled herself under Peko's quietly menacing gaze, now realizing just how similar it felt to Maki's glare. Kaede glanced around the casino to stall for a few seconds before speaking. "I guess we found Celeste's lab. Did you find anything interesting?"

Peko shook her head. "No. It appears that this is just a standard casino, aside from lacking any staff. I haven't found anything that could explain our situation… or a way out."

Kaede frowned slightly. "A little disappointing, but I kind of figured we would've found an exit by now if it were here. At least we know about everything on this deck now, even if it's not all that helpful," She admitted as she moved to join Pekoyama. The blonde peered curiously at the exchange booth. She hadn't noticed it from the door, but her proximity allowed her to spot a small, narrow line that ran around the center of the booth just behind the Monokuma standees. "Hmm… that's a little weird. What's that for?" She wondered aloud.

"I'm so glad you ask!" That damned squeaky voice declared, and Kaede barely stifled a groan. She hardly even flinched when the bear popped up next to the cardboard copy of himself, flashing a grin and putting a paw behind his head. "Honestly, it seems like you ahoge-touting guys are the only ones halfway decent at exploration! I guess being the protagonist has its perks, huh?"

The second migraine of the day was threatening to storm over with each grating word. "What does that even- no. I don't care. Don't you have anything better to do than mess with me?"

"Nooope~! This is the job, my dear little blackened! A good captain must always strive for the needs of his passengers, and what you guys need most of all is to slaughter each other like animals! If I annoy you, that might just speed up the process!" The bear singsonged, earning a spiteful glower from the pianist.

"You're disgusting."

Monokuma bowed his head, kicking a foot lamely. "Geez… words hurt, Kaede! And here I thought you were all about friendship and all that crap!"

"Someone as vile as you cannot have friends." Peko curtly insulted.

The black and white robot sighed deeply. "Kids these days have no respect for their elders. And here I was about to give you gifts…

"Gifts?" Kaede parroted suspiciously. The bear perked up instantly.

"Yup! Here on the Despair of the Seas, we put customer satisfaction above all else! So, for your enjoyment, allow me to present… the exchange shop!" He declared, slamming his paw on the counter. The outline Kaede noticed beforehand suddenly shot up to reveal a massive rotating display of dozens of items. Kaede blanched at the sight. Baseball bats, a pair of guitars, books, parasols, and all manner of other mundane luxuries were proudly hung up next to swords, maces, hammers, self-proclaimed bomb making kits, and even a couple firearms, each and every item locked into place and marked with a price tag. 

She opened her mouth, a horrified condemnation on the tip of her tongue. "N-no way! You can't just leave those lying around! Are you-" Monokuma cut her off with a pop of his claws. 

"Ah ah ah, let me finish! Before you get your panties in a bunch, no, these aren't free for the taking, nor are they cheap. If anyone tries to just grab one," He tapped on the counter and a turret popped from the roof, scanning over the room for a brief second before popping back into the hatch and out of view. "You get the idea. You also can't just buy these with some monocoins you found between the couch cushions. If you want, say, this bad boy," He hopped off the counter, grabbed a shotgun off the rack, and held the stock up for her to see. The price, as it turned out, was a ludicrous five _ million _ . At Kaede's startled yet slightly relieved look, he continued. "I promise you, I don't have five million coins lying around, so don't bother looking. Buuuut, what I do have are several million ** _digital monotokens_ **! Here at the exchange, you can trade in your hard earned monocoins for monotokens to be added to your personal account. Each monocoin will get you ten tokens. To get more tokens, you can bet them in any of the games, and you can make it or break it depending on how you do! Bet ten and get a hundred, bet a hundred and get a thousand, bet a thousand and end up penniless, who knows! Exponential growth can really be something once you get some steam going, so who knows, maybe you'll be the proud owner of this thing! I call it the Heartbreaker!" He propped the gun up and leaned against it, apparently done with his sales pitch.

"Over my dead body." Kaede hissed, shoving a finger towards the captain's chest. He gave a small shrug.

"It just might be, you know. Everyone here has a starting balance of a thousand tokens. Whenever a student dies, whatever was in their account gets distributed amongst the remaining students. Consider it a free motive to keep the killing game a'rollin'. After all, the fewer people there are, the bigger a cut you get!" Monokuma winked. Kaede glowered at him for a few seconds, opening her mouth to decry him once again before shutting it again and simply turning away, refusing to dignify him any further. "Hey! Don't be rude! I'm talking to you!"

"There is no rule saying we have to respect you. You've made your point. Now leave." The Ultimate Swordswoman bluntly ordered. Monokuma scoffed.

"Un-be-lievable. You guys commit one itsy-bittsy little murder, and you're suddenly too cool to hang around an old bear like me. One day, you'll be old and lame too, you know! Well, if you live long enough, anyway…" Their hated enemy taunted. Upon being thoroughly ignored, he sighed, and was gone when Kaede finally bothered glancing back at where he'd stood. The pianist let out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Okay, fine. I can handle this…" She muttered to herself, silently cursing her own curiosity. As if there weren't enough stray variables running around without having an arsenal around. 

"... For what it's worth, I doubt most people here have the patience to buy one of these weapons, or the training to properly handle them. I don't see any ammunition on the shelves either. There isn't much reason to worry, at least in the near future." Peko offered somewhat tentatively. The red-eyed girl was somewhat stiff and awkward, clearly unused to offering comfort, but the attempt was clear all the same.

Kaede managed a small smile of gratitude. "True… I mean, I'm not sure most of the people here could even lift that mace. Thanks, Peko," The pianist said. Peko nodded, crossing her arms. Kaede glanced over the exchange shelf again, focusing on the less lethal arrangements. To its credit, most of it was genuinely nice merchandise, even somewhat tempting to a certain extent. Were the weapons removed and she'd been there of her own free will, Akamatsu probably would have found it all pretty cool. She was ripped from her thoughts by the sound of the doors creaking open, turning her head to see Celeste entering the room, eyes scanning around quizzically. Kaede waved to her. "Hey, Celeste."

Ludenberg slowly strolled into the room, seeming to breathe in the atmosphere. "... This is a casino," The european stated, just the slightest hint of joy in her voice as she approached the pair. The gambler's gaze roamed over the lab, examining each and every game and machine on display. By the time she reached the pair of other ultimates, Celeste's lips tugged into a small grin. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Beautiful, is it not? Few things in life are as satisfying as the scent of a gambling lounge."

Peko frowned slightly. "The smell of smoke and alcohol has always been noxious to me. I've been in many casinos during my work, and each left a foul taste in my mouth."

Celeste flicked her hair back with her index finger. "It is an acquired taste, I suppose. As for me, however, it reminds me of the dens I had my start in. The decor is a lovely reminder of home as well."

Kaede quirked an eyebrow at Peko, curiosity once again bubbling in her. "You go to casinos often? I wouldn't expect that from your talent. What is it you do, exactly?"

Pekoyama's jaw clenched slightly, a silent debate playing inside her eyes before she finally answered. "...I'm a bodyguard. I suppose I can tell you that much."

"Bodyguard? That's… unexpected. Who do you protect?"

Peko looked Kaede dead in the eye with complete seriousness. "If I told you, I would be forced to kill you."

The shocked pianist took a step back. "W-whoa. They must be pretty important for… that. Are they the prime minister or something?" Akamatsu pressed. Peko just stared at her for a few seconds before Kaede realized her mistake. "Oh. Right. You'd have to kill me. Uh… anyway, it looks like you like your lab, Celeste."

"Indeed. I believe this is just about perfect," The gothic girl confirmed, appreciating her surroundings for a little longer. "Truly majestic. Why, it almost makes me wish…" Ludenberg suddenly seemed to stiffen slightly, turning to face Kaede and Peko with an unreadable expression. Kaede tried not to squirm the longer it went on while Peko’s limbs noticeably lowered into a ready stance, readying herself to spring into action if need be.

"Speak or stop staring. It's… unsettling." Peko said to the gambler, earning an eye roll from Celestia in turn. 

"There is no need for threats. I was merely going to ask if either of you know how to play the game Texas Hold 'Em."

_ ‘Texas Hold ‘Em? That’s… kind of out of left field.’ _Kaede thought to herself. Similarly, Peko hesitated for only a moment, likely wondering the same thing as Kaede, before speaking up.

"I have observed a few matches. Enough to learn the rules at any rate."

"Good. And you?" Celeste shifted her gaze to the pink-clad Ultimate. Her brow furrowed.

"No. I've never really gambled. Why do you ask?"

Celeste put a hand over her mouth, observing them carefully. "Because, as we now have a place to play, I was wondering if you two would be interested in a round of poker. I wouldn't recommend refusing outright. This is not an offer I give to just anyone."

Kaede crossed her arms, thinking. "If that's the case, why us? Didn't you say I was delusional?"

"I do believe that, and you are correct on the latter. However, I often put that aside if the people around me show promise. I sense some talent within you, Kaede. You have a gambler's spirit. Willing to bluff and compromise to get what you want, a strong will, a knack for manipulation… you might need to be taught the rules, but you seem to have the basic principles behind it down perfectly," Ludenberg explained, a hint of admiration. Kaede's lips curled shamefully downward. That _ sounded _like a compliment, but it certainly didn't feel like praise. Being a liar and a cheat wasn't something to be proud of. Celeste paid her no mind as she continued. "As for Peko, she at least has a good poker face, and seemingly some experience. I think you would both make for interesting opponents."

Akamatsu held up a finger. "That… makes sense, but why do you want to play at all? No offense, but you don't really seem like the type that likes to make friends with strangers."

"My my, so many questions for someone so trusting," Celeste subtly mocked. "While that is also true, there are a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it would cure my boredom. Few things are as thrilling as an earnest match of poker. Secondly, as I told you at breakfast, it is doubtful anyone would try a killing this early or publicly, so I have nothing to fear. Lastly, it would likely be a bonding experience of sorts. Surely that must appeal to you, Kaede."

Peko narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. "Why ask anyone at all? You were the first to say it would be foolish to trust anyone, and now you're inviting multiple people to a poker game. Even you must realize how suspicious that seems. While I’m not against the idea of playing, why should I believe that this isn’t some form of trap?"

The gambler giggled lightly. "Whilst I can understand the suspicion, Peko, the logic is quite simple. Not only would it be foolish for someone else to attempt a murder, but it would be doubly so for myself. I plan to have a total of six people so we can have a full match. Due to the nature of the rules on this ship, one person can only kill two people. As such, if I or anyone else tried to kill someone during the match, there would be at least three witnesses that could confirm who did it. Additionally, even if they somehow didn't see, I would still be the prime suspect as it happened at my tournament. Above all else, however, it would be the epitome of stupidity for me to try to kill the Ultimate Swordswoman, whom not only vastly outclasses me physically, but is also already vigilant and weary against any possible traps. I assure you, I am not an idiot. In essence, short of a total blackout happening and myself becoming the victim, there is no way a murder can occur," The gambler smiled, resting her chin on her neatly folded hands. "Is that sufficient?"

The pair of Ultimates fell into a debating silence as they thought it over. Kaede couldn't deny that Ludenberg's explanation was rather solid. Even if her personal motivations were questionable at best, the fact was Celeste was basically gift wrapping Kaede another opportunity to build relations between the former blackened, exactly the sort of thing she needed to keep the peace. She decided to be the first to break the silence. "... I'll join. I don't know how good I'll be at it, but you're right. There's more reward than risk doing this."

The pale girl lit up slightly, barely noticeable with her well crafted emotional mask. "Spoken like a true gambler. This should be a treat. As for you, Peko?"

The pianist and Celeste turned to face Peko, who, after a few seconds, finally answered. "... Very well. I'm willing to attend, but know this will not end well for you if I find you're lying."

"I would expect nothing less. Regardless, I'm pleased to hear you both agree. I will need some time to decide on who else will join us and to set it up. We'll meet for it, say, tomorrow before lunchtime? Say, around 11?"

"That should work."

"Excellent. I shall get to work, then. In the meantime, I imagine you'd like to know that a few of the others bothered to leave their rooms, stumbling into the dining hall like drunkards. I don't know their names, aside from Leon, but I'm sure you will be pleased to see them regardless."

Kaede lit up at the news. "That's great! I think it's just about time to meet up with everyone, too, so we should probably head out. See you later, Celeste!" The pianist bid farewell. With that, she and Peko left the room, the swordswoman a step behind her. In total, Kaede considered the outing rather successful. She'd found two reliable allies in Kirumi and Peko, set her admittedly vague plan to unite the group in motion, and got a firmer grasp on their new prison. Things were far from over, of course, but at least now she felt like she had some firm footing on the situation compared to how completely lost she felt just earlier that morning. That hope she told everyone else to feel was finally starting to take hold in herself.

She could only hope that it would continue to grow from then on out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll say this flat out just so it doesn't seem like we're pulling anyone along: the first body discovery is next chapter. We're finally putting the killing in the killing game, so stick around for that. Also next time: anime, poker, and free time events!
> 
> EDIT: Okay, after talking things over with my cowriter, it occurs to me that expecting to get the body discovery in next chapter is likely unrealistic. While it's still a possibility, I can't promise it for next chapter. 
> 
> However, I can say with absolute certainty that it will happen within the next two chapters without a shadow of a doubt. I know it seems like we're taking forever on this, but it honestly takes a long time and a lot of wording to establish a proper pace for a story like this. It wouldn't be Danganronpa if there weren't a lot of time to let the characters breathe and mingle, after all. We're sorry for any disappointment this causes, but we promise it will be worth it long term.
> 
> Side note, if it wasn't clear, Gundham was thrown off because Kaede's mannerisms reminded him of Sonia.


	6. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Daily Life Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing her attempts to unify the students, Kaede gets to know some of her fellow blackened more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this being a little late! This chapter ended up being a lot bigger than expected! Hope it lives up!

Before even stepping inside, Kaede could hear the commotion of the new arrivals waiting on the other side of the dining hall door. She couldn't quite make out specified voices amongst the general clatter, but she could tell at least a few more people had joined the fray if the murmured chatter and occasional clinking of dinnerware was anything to go by. Kaede smiled softly, silently thanking Kaito, Chiaki, and Gonta for their efforts. The sooner they got everyone willing to face each other, the better. Peko didn't seem to particularly care about it as she pushed the doors open and entered without any fanfare. Kaede followed in quickly after, observing the room for a moment.

The room seemed considerably fuller despite only having two new faces in it and seeming to lack Kirumi at the moment. Peko quickly made her way to the back corner without anyone seeming to notice, leaving Kaede alone at the door. Leon sat across from a rather passionate-looking Kaito, the latter once again taking a knee atop the table in a rather dramatic show. The redhead was far from impressed based on his pursed lips, crossed arms, and rolled eyes. "... And that's why you have to cherish your talent with everything you've got! Doing anything else is just betraying yourself!" The astronaut loudly announced. Leon just scoffed and leaned back further in his chair.

On the other side of the room, Gonta, Gundham, and Korekiyo had reformed their little clique, now joined by a slightly more energized Chiaki as well. The Devas were all over a starry-eyed Gonta, one balancing on his giant fingers whilst another seemed to be lounging comfortably in his satchel. To his absolute delight, the largest of them, a fat and bright orange ball of fluff, slept on top of his head. Gundham gave a conceited grin as he continued giving some long winded tale about how he witnessed the Devas be formed from pure nothingness at a demon sanctuary by an ancient and powerful beast, which she mentally translated to seeing them be born at an animal shelter. Korekiyo stared at the so-called Dark Lord with as much intrigue as she'd seen when he discovered the artifacts in Sakura's lab. Two handhelds sat on the table, Chiaki giving inputs at a lightning fast speed with pure determination on her face. Kaede initially wondered if one of the others had tried challenging her to a match and lost, until she caught sight of the head of the fourth of Gundham's hamsters peeking out over the top of the screen, apparently manning the controls of the spare console. Akamatsu blinked, shaking her head quickly to confirm what she was seeing wasn't just her imagination. Sure enough, when a little victory jingle announced the end of the round, Chiaki set the game device down and held out a finger a moment before one of them (Maga-Z, if she recalled correctly) scurried over and shook it with a squeak. Chiaki gave a gracious smile as she announced 'GGs'.

In contrast to the squad's merriment, a rather uneasy looking Tsumugi stood halfway between the kitchen and the exit, wringing her hands nervously while Hifumi animatedly talked about the anime party. The bluenette was visibly conflicted, likely stuck between interest in the offer and her own paranoia. Kaede's lips thinned at the sight. She couldn't really blame Tsumugi, given the circumstances, but in all the (admittedly short) time she'd known her, Shirogane was a bit of a coward. The blonde sometimes doubted the cosplayer had an adventurous bone in her body with how much she seemed to fret over almost everything vaguely challenging. Hifumi being the one to invite her probably didn't help seeing as how he was both a complete stranger and just kind of creepily awkward in his own right. Kaede was sure the other girl would find one reason or another to refuse given the chance, so she took it upon herself to approach the pair of geeky Ultimates in an attempt to smooth things over. 

"Hey, guys!" She greeted with a smile. Some tension disappeared from Tsumugi's shoulders, but worried weariness still dominated her body language.

"Hi, Kaede," Shirogane replied. Her attempt at a smile looked more like a wince. The plain girl glanced back at Hifumi uncertainly. "... Um… he was mentioning something about watching anime together?"

Kaede nodded. "Yeah, that's right. We should talk about the details together! We could see if anyone else would want to join, too. Maybe Leon and Kaito?" She questioned, mostly as a way of lowering Tsumugi's guard. The more people there were that went along with something, the more likely Tsumugi would be to fall in line with it. Plus, associating it with someone she knew like Kaito would probably help to take away some of the edge of being surrounded by strangers. Yamada opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Hey, Hifumi? While I fill Tsumugi in, could you check with Gundham and the others?" She asked as she pointed to Gundham's table, quietly hoping he either hadn't talked to them yet or at least took the hint. She felt bad sending him away like that, but her chances of getting Shirogane on board were simply better if she did most of the talking.

He stared at her oddly for a moment before readjusting his glasses. "Hmm… I suppose there is a decent chance the Ultimate Gamer appreciates 2D. I'm not certain Mister Gokuhara even knows what anime is, though… I must inform him! I shall return!" Hifumi bellowed dramatically, Kaede giving a silent word of thanks that he took the bait. A brief silence reigned between the two as he walked away, either unwittingly or intentionally waiting for him to get out of earshot before speaking.

"... I didn't really take you for the kind to watch anime. You never got any of my references." Tsumugi noted dryly. Kaede tried not to take that as a barb. 

"I'm… usually not, but Hifumi and I found one that looks pretty interesting and I thought it might be a good way for everyone to get closer. It seemed like it would be right up your alley. We can talk about the details with the guys," The pianist tried to entice, taking a couple steps towards the table until she realized Tsumugi wasn't following her. The spectacled Ultimate's expression shifted slightly, though she couldn't quite tell if it was for better or worse. Distrust still wavered behind the cosplayer's eyes, much to the blonde's disappointment. After a moment of deliberation, Kaede took a gamble and reached out to the shy girl, taking her by the hand. Tsumugi startled slightly, giving her a confused and slightly suspicious look. "Hey, Tsumugi? I know you're scared. Believe me, part of me is too. But… you don't have to be afraid. I know it's easy to think everyone’s going to betray you, but the best way to keep that from happening isn't to push people away, it's to let them in. Last time, Monokuma played on us not trusting each other. So why give him what he wants? Trust is hard, but it's worth it. If we all work hard and become friends, I'm sure we can get out of here!"

Tsumugi stared at her in dead silence. The bluenette didn't exactly look convinced. In fact, if anything, she looked more tired and weary than before the pianist intervened. "Kaede… this sounds a lot like what you said last time, and without wishing to oversell it, things went pretty terribly. Do you honestly, truly believe that trusting everyone will help to stop this killing game?"

The honest answer was out of the question. Saying '_No, I don't know anything the others might do or not_' was probably the least encouraging thing she could possibly do short of flat out refusing. The obvious answer, then, was to lie. It unsettled her just how easy it was to come to that conclusion in any given conversation in recent times, but that was, rather ironically, the truth of the matter. Honesty would get her nowhere here, where paranoia thrived off of inconvenient truths and doubts. If she told one little falsehood, she stood a better chance of gaining the cosplayer's support and eventual trust, and subsequently helping to prevent anyone from doing anything drastic or suffering a cruel fate. Deception was her best way to pave the way for a more honest friendship down the line. Besides, it didn't even have to be a complete lie; just the reality of the situation dipped in some kind and reassuring if ultimately hollow words to help make the truth taste less bitter compared to the candylike sweetness of a positive imagination. 

At least, that was how she justified it to herself. With only a millisecond of hesitation, she answered. "Yes, I do. At the very least, I believe it's worth fighting for until it _ is _ the truth," Kaede stated firmly. That was the easy part, given she genuinely believed the second part of it. Now came the complete fib. "I have faith no one here will try to kill again, and I'll do everything I can until everyone else feels the same."

Blue eyes scanned over the optimistic musician scrutinizingly, Kaede keeping her upbeat and sincere mask on as much as she could manage despite squirming just under the surface. It wasn't a stretch to think the Ultimate Cosplayer would be good at reading people's reactions. Part of getting into character was probably having accurate expressions, right? That would mean she would know when someone is faking a look. If Tsumugi suspected she was lying, the consequences were likely going to be far more severe than just missing out on some anime. A beat passed without any response, and Akamatsu's nerves started to get to her. _ "Crap… did I overplay it? I really did mean most of what I was saying, but maybe she knows I'm exaggerating? I really hope she doesn't just say no… how does Kokichi do this all the time?" _

After several more tense seconds, Shirogane sighed, tilting her head to the side. "You know, you really sound like a typical anime protagonist sometimes. Talking about the power of friendship, trust, working together… people tend to bash on them for being bland or naive," Shirogane's apprehensive expression softened into a slightly more trusting one. "But… I've always had a soft spot for them. Okay, Kaede. I'll hear you out, at least. I mean, it would be just plain rude of me not to after that."

_ "... That sounded kinda rude anyway, but at least she's on board…" _Kaede silently mused. On the outside, however, she clasped her hands excitedly, offering a grin as bright as the sun. "Great! Thank you, Tsumugi!" The pianist gratefully declared as she started making her way towards the still-bickering Leon and Kaito, now with her slightly shy companion in tow. 

The astronaut noticed their approach before Kaede could greet him, lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Hey, Kaede! Tsumugi! C'mon, grab a seat!" He cheered. Kaede and Tsumugi returned the greeting, the former decidedly more warmly than the latter. Leon gave an acknowledging nod and a somewhat reserved 'hey', his gaze seeming to linger on Tsumugi oddly for a moment before he shook his head and looked away. Kaito either didn't notice or didn't particularly care as he carried on without comment. He quickly explained how their efforts to get the others out of their rooms went. Leon and Tsumugi (obviously) came out without too much trouble, whilst Teruteru took the most effort, only coming out around eleven. Mikan and Mondo didn't answer their door at all, while Sakura politely refused. A mixed bag of news for Kaede, but a fifty-percent success rate wasn't terrible. She tried explaining her discoveries upstairs, but Kaito waved a hand. "Kiyo and the others caught us up on what's upstairs. So there's your, Sakura, and Kirumi's labs, a store, the ballroom, and then a boiler room Monokuma won't let us in?"

Kaede confirmed it with a nod. "Celeste's lab is up there, too. It's an entire casino."

"A casino? That could actually be pretty rad. Never been to one, but it's gotta be sweet, you know?" Leon piped up, mildly interested for what might have been the first time in hours.

Kaito huffed, crossing his arms. "Trust me, it's rigged. Just a bunch of crap to sucker you out of your money."

"Um… but if it's rigged, how did Ryoma and Shuichi make so much money there?" Tsumugi questioned skeptically, earning a glare from the Ultimate Astronaut. Kaede quietly figured it must have been something they found after her death while Kaito rolled his eyes.

"Shuichi's a detective! He probably has some crazy intuition that tells him when to bet or not, or something like that! And Ryoma was just lucky!" He yelled in a rather poor attempt to defend himself. Kaede noticed how he used past tense for the Ultimate Tennis Pro in contrast to Shuichi's present tense, her lips tugging downward at the casual confirmation of yet another friend's grizzly fate. Momota carried on like nothing happened, a subtle signal that Ryoma must have been dead for quite some time if it was that casual a topic. "Besides, it doesn't matter how rigged the games are. I swore off gambling forever!"

Kuwata shrugged. "Suit yourself, man. I'm not lame enough to chicken out over something like bad luck, though."

Kaede could nearly see the fire shooting from Kaito's eyes. "Chicken?! I'm not chicken! Kaito Momota is daunted by no challenge, big or small!" He roared, slamming a fist down on the table. Leon smirked at him.

"Oh yeah? Prove it then! That place has slot machines, right?" Leon asked, looking at Kaede. She nodded and he turned back to the purple haired teen. "You and me at the slots after lunch!" He quickly glanced around the room, sights settling on Gonta, who was awkwardly trying to hold Chiaki's game device in his giant hands. "With that guy as the referee! First one to go broke loses!"

"You're on! I'll show you just what the Luminary of the Stars can do! If I win, you owe me a baseball match!"

Leon glowered at him. "No way, man. Screw that, and screw baseball. I never wanna see another one of those things as long as I live."

The pianist could hazard a guess as to why, but before she could tell Kaito to drop it, he gained a look somewhere between smug and challenging. "What, are you too _ chicken _? A real man wouldn't run from a challenge!"

She glared at harshly for his reckless words. "Kaito! That's really insen-"

"You know what? Fine, ya bastard!" Leon shot back, leaning forward and shoving a finger towards Momota. "And if I win, you shut the hell up about baseball forever, _ and _you have to play bass in my band for a year!"

Kaito threw out an open hand without hesitation. "Deal!"

"Deal!" The Ultimate Baseball Pro parroted as he grabbed the hand in turn.

Akamatsu stared at the two in total bewilderment. "Um… what just happened?" The pianist questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the athletic ultimates.

"A clash of passions, Kaede! I won't rest until he gives one-hundred and ten percent for his destiny in the universe!"

"My talent is a bunch of bullcrap! I don't care about destiny or whatever; I live in the moment!" Kuwata shot back, glaring fiercely into the astronaut's eyes. Kaede could only rub her head awkwardly.

"Um… okay then. I was going to ask if you guys wanted to come watch some anime with Hifumi and I-"

Kaito grinned like a full moon. "Anime with my sidekicks? Hell yeah! When are we doing this?" 

Kaede couldn't help the slightly ironic smile that came to her face. "Immediately after lunch. See the problem?"

Kaito's expression went from ecstatic to deeply conflicted in the span of a few seconds. Something bordering on existential dread crept over his features more and more with each passing moment. "H-huh? Hanging out with my sidekicks or confronting a rival… what kind of a decision is that?" Momota nearly whined out. Before his worry could get too out of hand, though, Tsumugi hesitantly raised a finger.

"Um, sorry, but you were saying you'd talk about the details while we were all here, Kaede? Maybe you could tell us about it first, and then Kaito can decide?"

"Hey, that's a good idea! Hit me with it!" The brash boy in question said excitedly. The redheaded wannabe rockstar stared at her suspiciously through narrowed eyes. Kaede proceeded to give a brief summary of the plan; where they were meeting, the people that had already agreed and the people that might, and the show itself. Tsumugi had brightened up considerably at the title ("What?! That's incredible! The licensing swapped so much that there's only a hundred official DVDs in the world!") whilst Kaede watched with somewhat guilty amusement as Kaito's look transformed from intrigued excitement to a rather impressive shade of blue the more she talked about it. By the time she finished, he looked like he might throw up. "Uh… sorry, but I think I'm gonna pass. Not really my thing."

Tsumugi looked almost insulted. "But it's great! You can't pass without even trying! There's so many iconic moments, like the scene where Ronnie gets possessed by the ghost of a crazed butcher-"

"B-bullshit! Ghosts are bullshit, and so's possession!" He roared, attempting to glare at the cosplayer and failing spectacularly.

On any other occasion, Kaede would respect his wishes. She was too kind-hearted to force people into things that made them uncomfortable unless she really thought they needed it. Manipulation and playing on people's weaknesses was disgusting. Teasing, however, was different. Light teasing between friends was a great way to get them to open up to new ideas. That had been how Kaito managed to get her into a foot race the night prior, after all. Seeing as how he had already done the former to Leon right in front of her, he was officially fair game for the latter. "It's fine if you're too scared to join in, Kaito. No shame in chickening out." She reassured, her voice as sickeningly sweet and devilishly innocent as her smile. Shock, offense, and realization flashed across his features sequentially, settling on a cross between being impressed and conflicted irritation. 

"I-I'm not scared! A-and I'm not fucking chickening out, either!" Kaito spat out indignantly. He shifted awkwardly in his seat, glancing down at the table for a few seconds before glaring into her eyes with pure determination. "I can't believe one of my sidekicks would give me such sass! Saying I'm some kinda scaredy cat… you know what? Fine! I'll watch your dumb show, and you can see how _ not _scared I am!"

Kaede's smile became genuine, a heartfelt giggle tumbling past her lips. "Thanks, Kaito! I knew you'd come around!"

His harsh look faded into one of just a slight dismay. "It's just some dumb anime… no way it could rattle Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars…" He quietly muttered under his breath, almost certainly trying to hype himself up. He didn't seem to notice Tsumugi's deathglare at his heretical words. Kaito glanced at Leon, rubbing his head with a small shrug. "Sorry, man, I've gotta prove myself to my sidekicks. How about you and me do this, then we have our battle?"

Leon's lips twisted almost scornfully. "Look, man, we can rearrange the time if we have to, but count me out. No way am I falling for that."

Kaede blinked in surprise, her smile falling in favor of a confused frown. "Falling for what?"

The athlete scoffed, waving a hand vaguely at her. "Watching anime? Seriously? Come on. You're trying to play us, man."

Kaede startled at the accusation. "H-huh? No, that's wrong! I just think it would be fun! I know it might sound silly, but things like this can really go a long way towards trusting-"

Leon scowled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, no. Last time a girl I just met invited me to her room, I nearly got murdered and then accidentally killed someone. Hard pass."

Akamatsu hesitated, stunned by the bluntly brutal confession. "That's… I don't know what to say. I'm really, really sorry that happened. I won't keep bugging you, but… it's nothing like that. I promise."

"Guess we'll see after…" The baseball prodigy said somewhat dismissively.

Tsumugi hesitantly raised a finger. "Um… for what it's worth, wouldn't it make sense for Kaede to just kill Hifumi without inviting anyone else if that's what she wanted? Unless she's actually a vampire, she shouldn't be able to hypnotize us to make us forget or something like that…"

_ "Why would _ ** _that_ ** _ be the first thing you think of?" _Akamatsu pondered befuddledly.

Kuwata shifted uneasily. "I mean, I guess-"

"Besides, it's Kaede! You might not know her like I do, but she's one of the good guys! Why would she try to kill you or any of us?!" Kaito demanded, pumping a fist. She tried not to wince, as Rantaro's stiff, sprawled out body came rushing back into her mind to haunt her. How could he just forget that she _ murdered _someone in cold blood?

Momota's well-intentioned defense seemed to be the last straw for the athlete. "I don't know! I don't know why Sayaka tried to shove a damn knife in my stomach, either! Point is, I'm not taking stupid risks when I don't know anything! Just… urgh!" Leon growled out in frustration, running a hand through his fiery spikes with a deep frown. "Look, a lot of crap went down like two days ago for me, alright? I don't want to talk about it, so just drop it!"

Kaede quickly stepped up to keep things from spiraling any further down. "Okay, guys, ease up," She ordered, fixing the two with a hard, warning look. Her fellow Ultimates at least had the decency to look a little guilty, Kaito raising his hands defensively while Tsumugi wrung her own, failing to meet the pianist's eyes. Once she was satisfied they wouldn't try being 'helpful' again, she continued, turning towards Leon. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't feel pressured to do anything right now. Take your time to figure things out, okay? And when you're ready, if you feel like it, you can talk about it with us." She apologized, closing it with a small, comforting smile. The stress in Leon's grey irises slowly seemed to lower more and more until it settled on a slightly bitter annoyance.

"... Whatever. Pretend this didn't happen," he grumbled, crossing his arms with the same childish pout he spotted earlier. A few beats passed in awkward silence before he glanced towards the clock and scowled a little. "Geez, how long does it take to make lunch? I've been sitting here forever."

That served to remind Kaede of a notably absent face. "Is Kirumi in the kitchen?"

Kaito nodded. "Yeah. She's been in there making lunch with the short chef guy since she got back a little while ago. He just barged in and started cooking the moment we told him we found a kitchen. I think that was… about an hour ago?" He shrugged helplessly. Kaede hummed in thought.

_ "That’s… weird. Kirumi's usually pretty quick with these sorts of things. Shouldn't cooking go faster if the Ultimate Chef is helping her?” _Kaede briefly ruminated on the situation for a moment, before a grim thought suddenly crossed her mind.

_ Could… could something have happened?" _The maestro realized. Kaede felt her throat go dry. No, no, nothing like that would happen this soon, would it? Not even Celeste thought that was possible. That didn't make the cold dread disappear, however. Her brow furrowed slightly as she held up a finger. "Uh… maybe they just made a mistake and had to remake some of it? They might need some help with that, so I'm going to go check on them. Be right back!" She informed, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. She walked as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself, not wanting to stir up a panic. Getting a bunch of killers gathered in one room on edge sounded like a recipe for disaster.

***

Kaede pushed the doors open as she entered, immediately being met with a wall of heat. It was far less severe than the boiler room's sweltering air, but it was still a noticeable rise in temperature from the dining room. To her immediate relief, she quickly spotted both Teruteru and Kirumi alive and presumably well as they zigzagged to and from various stoves, ovens, and sinks. They danced around each other holding loaded plates, pots, sauces, spoons, and more almost effortlessly in an impressive display. The constant clanging of pots, pans, and cooking utensils joined in with the beeping digital alarms and more traditional clockwork timers to form a frantic soundtrack to their work. Neither seemed to have noticed her appearance as they exchanged banter during their task. 

"-ou know, you're looking pretty warm in that stuffy dress of yours, Kirumi! Feel free to take it off if you want; I'm used to girls getting hot and bothered around me~!" Teruteru called out luridly as he stirred some sort of sauce, making Kaede cringe.

"With all due respect, Mister Hanamura, the only thing bothering me is your commentary. I assure you, I would sooner serve rotten fast food to the prime minister than so much as remove a glove in your presence," Tojo cooly shot back without missing a beat, skillfully sidestepping the chef as he rushed to one of the stoves on the opposite side. The maid kneeled slightly to open one of the ovens the millisecond the alarm went off, pulling out a tray of beautiful golden biscuits and setting them atop a trolley loaded with several tantalizing dishes. "I believe the first course is ready to go. I'll be…" She finally noticed the blonde's presence as she moved to push the cart of food out of the room, managing a small, warm smile. "Ah, Kaede. How might I be of service?"

Kaede waved, mirroring the expression with genuine relief. "Hi, guys! Just wanted to check in! The others were a bit worried. They said they haven't seen either of you in a while…"

Kirumi bowed her head. "Ah, yes. I must apologize for the delay. There was an…" Her eyes glanced to the chef, who looked to be sprinkling the final touches on a sandwich. "Incident before I arrived, and we were forced to start from scratch. We've only just finished the first course."

"Well hello there, Kaede! Looking for a little something -or maybe a big something- to make you feel filled? We've got just what you're looking for…" Hanamura purred over the clattering pans and distance between them, earning a glare from both the pianist and maid at once.

Shaking the annoyance off with a small sigh, Kaede waved a hand. "Oh, no worries! Is there anything I can do to help out?" She offered. Kirumi put a gloved hand to her chin.

"... I would ask you to bring the appetizers out, but there is quite a bit here, and all of it is specifically requested. Besides, if they are concerned, it would likely be for the best if they saw I was fine. On that account… could you assist Mister Hanamura for me while I’m gone?" Tojo questioned with a hint of concern as she pushed the trolley towards the door. Kaede tilted her head, not quite understanding what she could do to help and preparing to ask before Kirumi came up beside her and whispered, "When I found him, he was shaking and crying on the floor, covered in spilled flour. I don't know the exact cause, but it's clear he was having a similar reaction as you did. While I know he's… _ difficult _, I do not wish for anyone to have to go through such episodes."

Kaede blinked, completely stunned. _ Teruteru _of all people having traumatic flashbacks? The same Teruteru that had just been making perverted comments just a couple moments prior? He certainly didn't seem traumatized at a glance with that cocky smirk of his. But… come to think of it, he had been one of the worst affected by the memories the day prior, hadn't he? It had been easy to forget given the ocean of guilt she'd been drowning in at the time, but upon reflection, he was a weeping mess; there was likely a good reason he'd been one of the ones holed up in their rooms. Plus, the others had made it sound like he hadn't actually bothered interacting with anyone before making a dash for the kitchen. Had... he been all alone the entire time before Kirumi came back? That sounded… incredibly lonely. 

_ “He probably tried to find solace in his talent, only to get reminded of his execution, and…” _Kaede tried not to stare at him too pitifully, before turning back towards Kirumi.

"... I'll keep an eye on him." Kaede quietly agreed, giving a tiny nod so as to not be noticed by the small chef. Kirumi gave a grateful nod and left the room without another word. The Ultimate Pianist fixed a pleasant smile on her face to greet him with as she approached. "Hi, Teru-"

Before she could so much as finish her sentence, however, he held up a hand in her direction and started tutting without even turning to face her. "Ah ah ah, hold it right there! Sorry, ma chérie, but absolutely no one gets near my dishes without washed hands and a hairnet! Not with a mane like that, anyway! I can't make exceptions, not even for pretty little things like you!" He called out, shifting his hand to point at one of the sinks. "The hairnets are in the dispenser next to it. Grab one, and then maybe we can see about a duet!"

She scowled a little at the condescension, but complied, washing her hands and clumping her hair into the plastic garb. It would ruin her styling, but she could deal with it if it let things go smoother with her least favorite acquaintance. Mustering a pleasant look as she joined by his side, she said, "It's good to see you out of your room. We were worried about you, you know."

Teruteru hummed, grabbing a pair of green onions and rapidly dicing them with a knife that Kaede tried to subtly keep an eye on. "It's good to be seen. A famous chef like me thrives on attention, after all. What good is a dish that nobody notices?" The short boy suavely replied. A second later, he scraped dozens of tiny onion slices into a pot and quickly replaced them with potatoes that were also soon reduced to little more than miniscule squares as he spoke again. “Like, say, the way Kirumi notices you.”

Kaede blinked, quirking an eyebrow. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

The chef clicked his tongue. "Oh, please. Just 'Kaede'? No title like she does with everyone else? I get the feeling it would take a lot for her to drop her precious professionalism like that.”

“Oh, that? I just asked her to do that because we’re friends and it feels weird to be addressed as ‘Miss Akamatsu’ by someone the same age as me.” Kaede explained, resulting in a hum from Teruteru.

“Hmm, that so? Well, it’s still clear as day that she probably wouldn’t do that for just anyone. Such a personal address like that, for such a prim and proper woman like her? It says quite a bit about both of you. Makes me wonder… if maybe you have even more _ intimate _requests for her when you're alone…" The chef hummed with a smirk that Kaede struggled to keep from smacking off his face.

"Don't be disgusting, Teruteru. We're just friends, and even if we were more than that, it'd be none of your business!" She denounced with a dark scowl and scolding tone, pointing at him accusingly. The stout cook raised a hand defensively.

"I don't judge tastes. The most delicious dish in the world can taste like shit to someone with a different pallet, so I can't pretend to have better taste than anyone else. Besides, you can certainly do a lot worse than the Ultimate Maid. Pretty girl with perfect manners, talents that even give me a run for my money, and sharp as a tack too… why, at that point, the fact that she'll literally do whatever you say is just caramel on the custard!"

The pianist crossed her arms with a pout. "If you respect her so much, why do you keep making weird jokes about her? It's gross and uncomfortable."

"I do that for everyone. Frankly, it'd be ruder to cut her out of the fun! She might put up a stern front, but if she really minded them, I doubt she'd have bothered sticking around," Teruteru explained slightly smugly as he finished chopping the potatoes and tossed them in the pot as well. "She might be obedient, but she's also feisty. I have a feeling I'd be stuck in the wall if she really got fed up with me. She's strong enough to do it. Just look at those arms of her-" Before he could continue being uncomfortably descriptive of Kaede's friend, another buzzer went off from the other side of the room, catching his attention. "Ah, that would be the bacon. Mind grabbing that for me? I'd gladly give you a sausage in return!"

Despite her annoyance, she _ did _agree to help, and it would hopefully distract him with his job long enough that he wouldn't make any more perverted comments before Kirumi came back. "Sure thi- h-hey, wait a second! You… ugh!" She shouted in annoyance, realizing the creep's double entendre even as she rushed to the stove in question and grabbed a skillet full of sizzling bacon. Hanamura chuckled gratingly even in the face of her pink-faced death glare when she returned and roughly shoved the skillet on the stove. 

"There. Now, we really need to talk about your-" Kaede began, before stopping halfway through her sentence as she realized that the chef simply had ignored her comment, simply guestering to a covered pot on the next stove over. "... Huh? Do you want that pot?"

"No, but you might. Look inside."

She kept a weary gaze on him as she took a few steps to the right and cracked open the lid to find a rather large amount of jambalaya inside. She cocked her head to the side. "Um, not to insult your cooking, but why would I want this?"

"Why, because it's the sausage I promised! Feel free to let it sit in your mouth if you wanna savour it!" He winked. The pianist felt her face grow as hot as the flames shooting from the stoves, slamming the cover back on the pot with a disgusted scoff.

"There is something seriously wrong with you, you know that?!"

He shrugged as he sliced the bacon just as he had the vegetables a few moments prior. "You say that, but you must have a dirty mind too if _ that's _where your mind went! Your face is as pink as those lacy panties of yours!"

Light embarrassment turned into sheer mortification as she stared at him in open-mouthed shock. "I- wh- I-" She tumbled over her own words as her mind short circuited. Finally, she gathered enough of her senses to process the full implications of his statement. "How the _ hell _do you know that?!" She snarled, her blood boiling with rage. It only worsened at his smug smile.

"Lucky guess, actually, but good to know for sure. If you'd like, I could get an up close and personal look-"

For the second time in as many days, Kaede slapped Teruteru with as much strength as she could muster. He blinked at her, opening his mouth to say something, and caught another slap before he could even get a syllable out. She took a moment to take a long, steadying breath to try and bury heated the torrent of swears that could rival Miu's rants. "... Teruteru. Please don't say things that will make me hate you. I would _ really _ prefer if we could be friends, but you're on _ incredibly _thin ice. I'm done with your dumb perverted jokes," The fuming leader warned in a deliberate and carefully maintained monotone. Hanamura parted his lips again, only to fall silent at her hellish glare. He subtly flinched as she raised a hand… and stared in shock as she simply held it out to him. "So… let's just pretend none of that happened and start over, okay?"

Teruteru stared at her, disbelief clear on his face. After a few moments, he gave a clearly strained smile and a false chuckle, taking out a comb and fiddling with his hair. "Hehehe… of course. I'm the kind of pervert everyone likes, so of course you're giving me another chance…" He muttered under his breath. Her lips thinned at the comment, but it seemed like he was trying to reassure himself more than anything. Finally, he reached out and shook her hand, smiling more sincerely. "Sure thing. I can tell when certain ingredients just don't go well with the dish. Just for you-"

"For everyone." She corrected. He blinked, frowning at her.

"Around everyone? You know, it's not right to keep a guy bottled up-" Her glare returned, lingering until he sighed, visibly deflating. "... Alright, I'll try to mix things up period. But you have to understand, sometimes it _ will _slip out. You simply can't make chicken marsala out of beef, if you catch my meaning."

Kaede hummed, weighing her options and ultimately giving a nod. "... Alright, I can give you that much. I know it would be hard for me to just stop referencing classical music overnight," She conceded, even as she silently noted how much harder it would be to make those references with her newfound trauma. She held up a finger like a scolding parent. "But don't think I'm giving you a blank check to be creepy."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Passion is important in any art form, but so is restraint. I know how to follow a recipe without making too many personal touches," Teruteru promised, rubbing his chin with one hand and stirring the pot of soup with the other. He stopped, turning to fully face her for the first time since starting the conversation. "Well, if we're going to use a blank canvas, care to give the first stroke?"

_ "... I'm just going to assume he doesn't realize how that sounds…" _Kaede silently mused. Shaking that off, she glanced at the softly bubbling concoction with some interest. "Well, what we're cooking might be a good place to start. What's on the menu today?"

"I thought you'd never ask! While there were a few special requests, my special today is Cajun style jambalaya with Andouille sausage and grilled shrimp served with cheddar biscuits and collard greens. This here," He pointed towards the pot he'd been working on. "Is a little thing of loaded baked potato soup with a dash of French herbs to tie things in a nice little bow. Of course, that's just for the lunch. I've got some ideas floating around for dinner already."

Kaede gave a positive hum with a nod. "I've never actually tried any of those, but they sound pretty good! And, I mean, you're probably the Ultimate Chef for a reason, right?"

He smirked, twirling his pompadour between his two fingers. "Well, I certainly like to think it's on account of more than just my pretty face, anyway."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Then I'm looking forward to it! I have to admit, though, I'm a little surprised. These dishes are a little more… folksy than I expected from you. I didn't think you'd be willing to cook rustic meals."

That seemed to catch him off guard, his beady eyes widening slightly. "Huh? Oh… well, it's not unreasonable for a cityslicker like me to know a few country recipes. Besides, I was feeling a bit homesick-" He suddenly paused, chuckling awkwardly and fiddling with his fingers. "Er, that is to say, I figured some of the more rural people here might appreciate some old-fashioned dishes given the circumstances. Nothing tastes quite like home like a family recipe… or so I've been told, anyway…" The Ultimate Chef explained with a plastered smile. Kaede stared at him in slight confusion.

_ "Okay, he's a _ ** _really _ ** _ bad liar, but why make something like that up at all? Who cares if he comes from the country or not?" _Akamatsu puzzled. Still, she didn't know enough about him to have any real right to pry, so she chose to let it slide for now. "I… see. Well… how did you get into cooking in the first place?"

Hanamura grinned proudly. "I learned by watching the best chef in the world, practically from birth. Taught me every little trick she knew about how to create the perfect flavors and textures for just about every kind of food imaginable! It… heh. It sounds lame, coming from a refined socialite like me, but when I first started out, it was really just to make her smile. I owe my passion for creating culinary masterpieces to her…" He fondly recounted, before a somber silence fell over him.

Kaede felt sympathy stir in her chest, looking down at the boy pityingly. "Is she…?" She trailed off, feeling she already knew the answer. Teruteru didn't actively give one, however, a melancholic expression overtaking his features as he idly added some seasoning to the soup in a way that more or less confirmed her suspicions. "... I'm sorry, Teruteru. I…" She wanted to say whoever Teruteru's mentor was would be proud of him, but would that really sound true to him, given that he'd resorted to killing just as she had? She certainly didn't think anyone should be proud of her anymore. Only Monokuma could manage to make things this difficult…

Before she could settle on something to say, the pair heard the soft clacking of the kitchen doors, turning to find Kirumi returning with an empty trolley. Teruteru leapt at the opportunity to change the subject like a life preserver, once again fiddling with his comb with a slightly nervous expression. "Ah, just in time, 'Rumi! The main course should be ready in a few minutes. Care to taste the soup? It's creamy with just a hint of salt!" He declared with a somewhat forced-looking smirk.

Kaede could only manage a tired sigh. _ "So much for having a moment… I guess he didn't want to talk about it. Should have expected that; we did basically just meet, after all. Baby steps, Kaede…" _

Kirumi's lips thinned at the crude double entendre, but her eyebrows raised slightly. "... Is that a request?" She questioned slowly, looking at him scrutinizingly.

"Well, it wouldn't do for the Ultimate Chef and the Ultimate Maid to serve even a single subpar dish, would it? I'd like your thoughts on the soup before it gets served."

"I have never doubted your talent, Mister Hanamura… is there a particular reason you're insisting now?" Tojo questioned.

"Kaede said these dishes seemed rather rustic for a cityslicker like me. I want to prove to both of you that even country cooking is by no means inferior or beneath the Ultimate Chef!"

The pianist flinched. "I didn't mean to offend-"

Teruteru waved a hand. "It's really just a matter of principle. Go on, just a sip!" He coaxed. 

"... Is there any other reason you're so eager for us to have some?" Kirumi pressed, a slight hint of suspicion tinting her words. 

The chef cocked an eyebrow. "Huh? What do you…?" After a moment of silence, his eyes widened. "Sacre bleu! Are you accusing me of poisoning it?!"

Kaede mirrored his expression. "What?! Kirumi, you think he-!"

"I apologize for the suspicion, but it's better to be safe than sorry. He didn't insist I sample any of the other dishes. Does that not seem unusual?" The maid calmly explained, bowing her head apologetically. 

"I didn't see him put anything weird in it…" Kaede defended.

"But did you see him taste it, either? He _ could _have poisoned it before you arrived and I didn't see."

Kaede cringed. Well… yes, that was _ technically _possible, but would he really have-

"Wha-now, hang on a damn minute! Where inda hell would'ah've even gotten poison?!" The chef furiously demanded, suddenly slipping into a thick accent that had previously only come out when Mondo threatened him. "Never! Never ever would Ah tarnish m'cookin' with sometin' a'foul a'poison! Look'ere!" Teruteru ordered, grabbing a stirring spoon and dipping it in the soup before taking a decently sized sip of it. The tension seemed to deflate from his shoulders as he sampled the food until it was almost completely gone. Blinking at the two, he chuckled awkwardly, once again messing with his hair (something Kaede was now certain was a nervous habit for him). "Er… sorry, I don't know what came over me. Not befitting of a proper socialite at all. But, anyway, there's nothing in this dish but top of the line ingredients and my passion!"

Kirumi waited a few seconds, as if waiting for any final hint that it was a trick, before bowing her head low. "My deepest apologies, Mister Hanamura. Given the circumstances we find ourselves in, I found it prudent to ensure the safety of myself and those around us. Given that I sincerely doubt you'd consume something you knew was poisoned, it's clear I've made a grave error. Please, forgive me."

Teruteru clicked his tongue, rubbing his chin. "Tch… well, I've always been inclined to live and let live. Besides, you could make it up to me by giving it a try. Sound fair?" He asked as he held out the stirring ladle. The Ultimate Maid wordlessly nodded and joined the pair, gently accepting it and taking a small spoonful of the soup. The moment it passed her lips, it was like a switch flipped, Kirumi's reluctant yet professional expression brightening into pure surprise. Her emerald eyes went wide, shocked delight dancing within. A couple seconds passed before she reluctantly lowered the spoon, Teruteru grinning smugly at the sight. "Well? Thoughts?"

"I… I do not believe it would be an exaggeration to say this is the best soup I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. This is beyond exemplary work, Mister Hanamura. It's almost disappointing that I am on duty…"

Teruteru's grin turned devious before he gave a wink. "I'd be more than happy to give you a _ very _personal serving in my bedroom, 'Rumi; piping hot and straight from the source."

And just like that, the switch flipped again, all hints of respect and delight evaporating from Kirumi's face in an instant. "That won't be necessary. I've suddenly lost my appetite…" Kirumi refused with the closest thing to a scowl Kaede had ever seen cross the maid's features. There was no doubt about Kaede's own spiteful look.

"Teruteru… remember what we talked about?" She growled in annoyance. When he gave defensive shrug, she could all but read his mind before he opened his mouth. "There's a difference between the occasional joke and… _ that _!" His fragrant attitude broke through her patience just long enough for her to warn, "I can teach you, or Mondo can. Which would you prefer?"

It didn't bring her pleasure to watch the color drain from his face, but there was a tiny bit of catharsis in knowing she had him cornered before he even said a word. He twittled his fingers as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. "H-hey now… don't be like that… that was just a bit of fun, you know? B-but I'll be on my best behavior, I swear!"

Kaede nodded. "I'm glad to hear," The pianist stated plainly. Shifting out of the ever uncomfortable mindset of manipulation, she gave a reassuring smile to boost all three's spirits. "So… this is a muti-course lunch, right? What are we making next?"

"Can't imagine people'll be too hungry after the main course gets out, but we could get a headstart on dinner while we're here…" Teruteru noted, rubbing his chin.

Kirumi held up a gloved finger. "While the second course is more or less finished, I believe the others will be dining on their appetizers for at least ten to fifteen minutes, and likely double that for the main course. Given your personable nature, I assume you have plans with the others, Kaede?" She asked. At Kaede's nod, she continued. "Very well. That would give us about forty-five minutes to prepare a final serving."

Hanamura hummed with a smile. "Just enough time for the three of us to make some dessert together, wouldn't you say? I recommend cream pies."

For her part, the maid hardly batted an eye. "Assuming you're not simply being vulgar, I'm familiar with numerous recipes for them. I would be more than happy to assist you if that is your request."

He chuckled lightly. "That one actually wasn't supposed to be an innuendo. But I wouldn't complain if you wanted to-" He caught Akamatsu's glare and hesitated for a moment, sighing as he decided to forgo whatever perverse joke he was about to crack. "... help."

"I could help too! I don't know much about baking, but I could get ingredients and you guys could teach me the rest! Consider it my first task as an apprentice maid!"

"Marvelous! Let's make something that'll knock their panties off!"

"That's not how the saying goes, Mister Hanamura…"

"Close enough, isn't it?"

Kaede just rolled her eyes. At least she set a foundation for a friendship with Teruteru, as peculiar as it would likely end up being. Maybe one day he'd finally stop making gross jokes… or, at least, she'd grow numb to them. In the meantime, the Ultimate Pianist, Chef, and Maid would simply banter as they prepared pies together.

***

The rest of the lunch went relatively smoothly. She and Kirumi would occasionally bicker with Hanamura, but to his credit, he kept _ most _ of his off-color gags to himself. Once the pies were prepared and set in the oven, the three of them finally got to enjoy the food themselves, something that proved just as heavenly as Kirumi's reaction had suggested. It didn't take that long after they started their meal for the others to start dissipating from the dining hall, Kaede taking longer than Hifumi and the other people attending the get-together, between the late start on her own lunch and subsequently staying a few minutes after to help with the dishes as much as Kirumi would allow. Not much, given that cleaning was Tojo's bread and butter, but the blonde was still pleased to be useful.

She bid her farewells to the pair, receiving a curtsey from Kirumi and an odd remark from Teruteru that she wasn't quite sure whether he was hitting on her or not _ ("'I hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave'? What does that even mean?") _. Regardless of the chef's antics, Kaede left the dining hall to meet with the others. The walk to Hifumi's suite didn't take that long, being relatively close to the dining hall itself at just three doors down. Given the size of each room, that still meant it was about sixty feet from door to door, but it was definitely closer than her cabin. Her eyes briefly flicked over the corridor as she stood outside of the fanfic author's lodgings. She hadn't noticed it before, but upon closer examination, each door's scanner lock featured a portrait of the room's owner just above it, though Monokuma had apparently decided to go with a rather unflattering shot of Hifumi staring blankly with his mouth half open. She frowned. Couldn't the bear be bothered to give them even a little respect? Shaking her head to banish the thoughts, she put a finger to the doorbell and rang it.

"Just one moment, please!" Hifumi's slightly muffled voice requested from the other side, followed by the sounds of a chair creaking and some movement before the door cracked open and the portly boy stuck his head out. A grin played across his features the moment he saw her. "Ah, Miss Akamatsu! Please, come in!" He invited as he opened the door fully. Putting his hands on his hips and deepening his voice, he proudly declared, "Welcome to the abode of the Alpha and the Omega!"

"Thanks, Hifumi! Hi everyone!" She greeted the small gathering of Ultimates as she briefly examined the room. The general layout was identical to her own room, though a few personal touches were different. Manga of every variety took up nearly every last inch of his bookshelves and stacks of DVDs rested on the coffee table alongside various figurines and statues. The large ocean view window was covered up by pink curtains emblazoned with some strange Cupid-like creature that also appeared on a number of the merchandise littering the room. Posters of a number of anime lined the walls, some of which she recognized, most of which she didn't. Perhaps the oddest among them was one showing off Monokuma's signature black and white with the words _ "Danganronpa V3" _stylized in the upper-middle. It only caught her attention for a second, the strange resemblance to their captor catching her slightly off guard, but she quickly dismissed it as probably just another obscure show Yamada watched and refocused on her friends. Hifumi's couch was notably longer than the one in Kaede's room by about a meter, though whether that was on account of Monokuma making adjustments for his talent or his size, she didn't know. Gundham had claimed the couch armrest farthest from the door whilst Kaito sat next to him, the determined half-glares they sent at each other making it clear they'd gotten into another monologue battle in her absence. Tsumugi had claimed the opposite armrest and seemed to simply be watching their ridiculous battle like it was part of the show. 

"At last, the Siren's High Priestess arrives, ushering in a merging of dimensions that grants us a peek beyond the veil of reality! Steel yourselves, mortals, for the time of reckoning is at hand! AHAHAHA!" Tanaka boomed, roaring with his typical maniacal laughter. 

Kaede felt her brow furrow as it so often did in the Ultimate Breeder's presence. "Nice to see you too…?"

"Hey, Kaede," Kaito greeted, noticeably less enthusiastic than usual as a faint shade of blue colored his dreadful expression. "So… we're about to start up, huh? Hey, Hifumi, how long is this thing?"

"Are you honestly attempting to escape your fate, Luminary? Pathetic. How could one as spirited as you show such blatant cowardice in the face of mere fiction?" Gundham sneered, earning a glare from Kaito.

"I-I'm not scared, damn you! I just wanted to know so I know what time I can teach Leon the same lesson I'm about to teach you guys, that being that Kaito Momota is afraid of nothing and no one!"

"A likely alibi, sinner!"

"You dare imply the Ultimate Astronaut is lying?! Looks like I'll have to challenge you too!"

"As if any mere human could ever hope to provide a true challenge to the Dark Overlord of Ice!"

Tsumugi tilted her head to the side, looking on at the puzzling scene before her. "Scenes like this are usually hilarious in anime, but it just feels really awkward in real life…" The cosplayer muttered, her words likely only audible to the pianist's exceptional hearing. Kaede merely rolled her eyes at the absurd pair as she took off her backpack.

"I have the show and the stuff for Celeste. Where do you want it?" Kaede questioned the pudgy prodigy. A triumphant look spread across his expression.

"Feheheh! Excellent! This spot should do for now. I'll sort through it once we're done." Yamada instructed, taking the box set and pointing towards a pile of even more random junk. Kaede did so as he responded to Kaito. "As for your question, Mister Momota, I would watch the entire series, but I imagine most of you unfortunately have non-2D commitments, so I would say the first arc should suffice for now. About three hours, I suspect."

If Kaito's face got any bluer, Kaede would be afraid he was suffocating. "Th-three hours of bullshit g-ghosts?" He sputtered, his eyes wide with worry. Kaede's brow furrowed.

"Um, Kaito? You know I was messing with you earlier, right? You don't have to watch if you're actually this sca-"

"If you run, Luminary, you forever taint your soul with the mark of a coward! Stay, and at the very least, you will prove yourself as a brave -if deeply foolish- warrior of the night sky!" Gundham interrupted dramatically, launching off the couch and pointing directly into the astronaut's chest in a theatrical pose.

Kaito reacted about as she expected, leaping to his feet in an instant and pumped a fist with a fierce glare. "I already told you that Kaito Momota is afraid of nothing! I don't care how many g-ghosts are in this stupid show, I'll stay here and fight your evil 'til the end!" Momota growled. "I'll prove myself to you _ and _ Kaede!"

"You don't have to prove yourself, that's my point!" Kaede groaned.

"Do not interfere, Siren! The Luminary has chosen his path, and to lead him astray would be a folly beyond forgiveness!"

"He's right! I can't back down, Kaede!" Kaito reaffirmed with a yell. For the second time that day, Kaito's bizarre honor code left her baffled.

_ "... I really don't get you sometimes. Is it just a guy thing…?" _Akamatsu thought, not bothering to give any external response other than a sigh and shake of her head. Deciding to tune out Kaito and Gundham's banter, she turned back to Hifumi. "So, is this everyone?"

The Ultimate Fanfic Creator nodded twice. "Indeed! Miss Nanami unfortunately had to take a nap. Miss Ludenberg briefly returned while you were still in the dining hall and caught up with us in the hallway. She asked Mister Gokuhara to help with something, so they'll probably be busy for a while," A flash of bitterness infected his tone at apparently being at least temporarily usurped as Celeste's henchman. "-and the others just said no. Some philistines unfortunately still _ wrongly _associate 2D with kiddy stuff and refused on that principle. Disgraceful!" 

"They're almost as bad as people who just use it as a way to get attention!" Shirogane complained.

"Precisely! Fanworks without passion aren't even fanworks! They're just trash trying to bait true fans!" Hifumi passionately agreed.

The normally reserved Tsumugi seemed to light up. "Right?! So few people seem to understand anything about it! It's so frustrating to get laughed at for having geeky interests while so many of my cosplays go to self-obsessed… posers!"

Kaede awkwardly rubbed her head. _ "Is this what it feels like for other people when me and Dad start debating about classical and modern music...?" _

"It's refreshing to speak to someone that understands the true woes of our profession! I-"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt one of my sidekicks, but are you gonna turn the thing on? I'm hoping there'll be some time between this and beating Leon at his own game to try and get some more people outta the dorms." Kaito inquired, cocking an eyebrow slightly.

Hifumi sighed a little. "Right, yes, IRL commitments… we shall continue this later, Miss Shirogane! Erm, if that's alright." Hifumi's verbose decree lost its steam as he realized she hadn't actually agreed to it yet. 

"Um… alone? Well… maybe. I'll think about it…" The bluenette replied less than certainly, her previous paranoia leaking through and fighting with her more personable side. Yamada didn't seem to mind her hesitation.

"Persuasion check passed! Excellent! In that case," he took out a disc from the case and walked to the TV. Dropping his voice to a rumble, he announced, "Prepare yourselves for… Notes of Nevermore!"

"Shit..." Kaito murmured under his breath as Kaede sat next to Tsumugi on the couch. Hifumi put the DVD in, took the remaining space on the couch, and pressed play on the remote. Seconds later, the wistful, heartfelt notes of Chopin's _ Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor _reached her ear, starting as barely a whisper and gradually growing in volume as the image of a nearly century-old version of Tokyo on a stormy night faded into view. Kaede sucked in a breath as her body tensed. She felt rigid as a stone from head to toe, her throat constricting painfully as the notes gently continued in the background. 

_ "H-huh?! N-no! Why am I freaking out? I-it's just a song! A song I've played thousands of times! There's no reason to feel so scared-" _

"Kaede? Are you okay? You look a little pale..." Tsumugi asked, looking at her in slightly confused concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine! It's just the lighting." She quickly waved off the concern.

Shirogane's lips tugged downwards. "But… why are your hands shaking?"

"Huh? They're not…" The pianist trailed off as she raised a hand, only to find it trembling like a leaf clinging to a tree in a harsh breeze. The fake disarming smile she put on dropped completely at the sight. The classical music stopped suddenly and was quickly replaced by Hifumi's voice.

The blonde turned to him, the portly boy scanning her with the remote in hand. "Um… Miss Akamatsu, are you sure you should be watching this?" 

She had to! She already agreed to do it! Kaede couldn't just cut and run because of some dumb, baseless worry on her part. More than that, she couldn't let herself look weak to the people relying on her. Not before she had a plan to get out, anyway. "Seriously guys, I'm alright! I just… feel a little off, but it's nothing. Promise!"

Kaito leaned over to face her, an almost uncharacteristic seriousness in his lilac eyes. "You sure? It wouldn't look good on me if one of my sidekicks needed help and I didn't give it to them. You said it yourself, if you don't feel up to it-"

"I'm _ fine _. I mean it. If it's too much, I'll leave. Okay?"

"If the Siren is willing to confront the demons of her past, we are not to interfere. You humans underestimate the power of a dark entity's will." Tanaka rumbled dismissively, earning a small smile from the pianist.

"Thank you, Gundham. I'm good. Let's keep going," She reassured. With just a moment of hesitation, Hifumi resumed the show, Kaede taking that brief moment to steel herself against the coming wave of dread. She felt her jaw lock and hands ball into fists as the music resumed, her heart speeding up in her chest like a revving engine. Despite that, however, she forced herself through it, no matter how bad she'd feel the longer it went on. She nearly lost control when the screen cut to the man playing the piano from the intro, feeling the hairs on the back of her head stand up in unison and her neck begin to ache in a perfect oval around her throat. The blonde felt sick to her stomach by the time the song finally came to an end despite the sigh of relief that escaped her. _ "Deep breaths, Kaede… besides, focus on the show, not this nonsense. This guy's a pretty good pianist-" _She thought the exact moment a well-dressed man noticeably missing a couple fingers grabbed the piano player by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. The (presumed) Yakuza member then promptly grabbed a hidden compartment in the body of the piano and threw it open to reveal a music roll and automated hammers inside, proving it to be a player piano. 

** _"Your 'skills' are a fucking lie, Yamomoto. Just like everything else about you!" _ ** _ The Yakuza sneered. _

_ "... Nevermind then. Still, he mimed the notes pretty convincingly… maybe he just needs a little more confidence in himself to become a real pianist. I guess this guy's the main character…" _ Kaede mulled to herself, as the anime continued.

_ Yamomoto, as he was apparently called, scrambled backwards. _ ** _"W-wait, this is just a misunderstanding! I told Kuzuhiko I'd have her money, a-and I do! Just not on me right now! Just give me-" _ ** _ The man pleaded before falling silent once the gangster pulled out a pistol. _

** _"It's too late for that. If it were up to me, you'd already be dead," _ ** _ He growled, taking aim. Yamomoto flinched, closing his eyes and waiting… and waiting… but the shot never came. He slowly opened one eye to find the Yakuza smirking scornfully at him. _ ** _"... But lucky for you, the boss still likes you enough to give you another chance. On your feet, Yamomoto. We're running some errands."_ **

"You know, in the original manga, they had Yamomoto work for an actual Yakuza clan. They had to change it during reprints and the adaptation because the family threatened the creators. It seems the Kuzuryus don't like the spotlight very much." Yamada mentioned, taking on the same tone Kiyo often used when discussing some anthropological trivia. 

Kaede balked. "They managed to make the biggest crime syndicate in the country angry? Geez… I thought it was scary enough just doing recitals for a couple parties Yakuza people attended, let alone getting on their bad side!"

Gundham scoffed. "The Kuzuryus are formidable, but I have run afoul of them before and come out unscathed. They simply cannot compare to the awesome might of my power!"

"When the hell would you have met any Yakuza guys, let alone some Kuzuryus?" Kaito demanded skeptically. The Dark Lord chuckled.

"That is a story for another time. Perhaps I shall tell it once you prove yourself."

That was generally how it went for the rest of the show. Hifumi or Tsumugi would offer some tidbit of info, they would comment on it, and Kaede would keep watching on with intrigue throughout. To her great surprise, the longer it went on, the more she found herself enjoying it. Something about it just seemed to click with her, and before she knew it, she was invested. Every triumph and tense scene had her on the edge of her seat, her emotions rocking up and down with each episode. If it weren't for breaking into a cold sweat every time the piano played, she would have said it was the most fun she'd had in awhile. It would make her sick to her stomach to hear the notes she once loved so much, but she forced herself to tough it out every time for better or worse. 

Aside from finding a show she liked, the experience taught her just how severe her trauma actually was. The fact that just hearing the instrument could instill such anxiety in her was almost as terrifying as the feeling itself, but Kaede refused to give up. She _ had _ to beat it. Giving up on her talent, her greatest passion, was simply not an option. After all, Hifumi and Tsumugi probably had their talents used in their executions too, and yet they were there watching anime without complaint. Kaito still loved the stars, and Gundham didn't so much as blink at the animals he bred. If her friends could still embrace what made them _ them _, surely she could, too. She'd do whatever she had to until she could enjoy her Ultimate ability despite Monokuma's sick and twisted execution.

The last episode of the evening seemed to be winding down, ending on a monologue from the protagonist over a shot that teased another ghost presumably appearing in the next arc. With that, the credits began to roll, and Hifumi paused the DVD. "... And that was the first arc of Notes of Nevermore! Well, everyone? Thoughts?"

"Terrible. Hated it. Bunch a stupid occult bullcrap…" Kaito tiredly grumbled from under his jacket, having decided to hide under it about twenty minutes in. He finally tossed the coat off his face to glare sulkingly at the TV. A mixture of pity and amusement filled Kaede at the sight.

Gundham let out a low hum. "Hmph… I will concede that it had more insight to the world beyond the veil than most mortal entertainment. A noble effort, if ultimately still misguided."

"What about you, Miss Akamatsu?" Hifumi inquired. 

Kaede felt a broad smile tug at her lips. "I actually really enjoyed that! The characters were great, the setting is neat, the concept's really original… I never thought I'd like an anime that much! I kind of wrote it off as just not being my thing before."

Tsumugi sighed with a small frown. "That's the mindset most _ normies _ have. They see one or two episodes of some shonen anime and write off the entire medium!" Shirogane complained with a hint of bitterness. Her expression softened a little as she continued. "But on the flipside, that's part of why I love anime so much. There's _ so _many great shows for any genre or age group! If someone goes in with an open mind, they're bound to find at least one thing they'll like! It's plainly incredible, honestly. I mean, when I first started watching shows, I was the same way, but Notes of Nevermore was actually one of the first I really enjoyed. In fact, Amaya Kuzuhiko was one of the first characters I ever did a real cosplay of!"

Kaede lit up, staring at Tsumugi in delighted surprise. "Really?! She was my favorite! It seemed like she left pretty early, though…"

Hifumi rubbed his chin in consideration. "Amaya is your favorite, eh? In that case, you might be interested to hear one of my peers that collaborated with me a few years back wrote a story about what she did after leaving the show! I don't often work with other people on fanfics, but his writing proved exceptionally above my usual expectations. In fact, later on, his story was made canon. He was even commissioned by the studio to write some of the official spinoffs!"

Akamatsu was floored. “Seriously? That’s incredible! I had no idea people could get so successful off of things like that! Getting recognized like that… that must be like performing an Elton John song, and then being invited to go on tour with him!”

The Ultimate Fanfic creator held up a finger. “Precisely, Miss Akamatsu! People like to dismiss fanfic as a lower form of writing at best, if not just calling it flatout geeky garbage! Such ignorance would be unforgivable if it wasn’t unfortunately so widespread. Few people realize just how many great authors start out writing fanworks of stories they enjoyed, or the sense of camaraderie among fans that produce and consume such works! That is the true beauty of fanfic; no matter how a story ends or how long ago it did, fanfic lets the characters and stories live on, and the dedicated fans of them continue to meet, debate, and bond with each other the way they did when it was new and relevant!” He proudly exclaimed, wearing the most genuine smile Kaede had ever seen on him. 

“That’s… actually kind of beautiful, when you put it like that,” Kaede admitted, suddenly seeing Hifumi in a new light. It might be kind of geeky… well, really geeky, but that’s what the other kids said about her loving the piano so much. If it brought him and other people so much joy, it suddenly seemed a lot harder to just write off completely. Mirroring his smile, she said, “You know what? I think I’d like to read that.”

“Really?!” Hifumi stared at her completely gobsmacked. “No one not already into fanfic has ever listened to my recommendations before! Erm… okay then! It had an official publication a couple years ago, so I might be able to find a copy! I’ll be sure to let you know if I find it, Miss Akamatsu!”

Kaede beamed. “Thanks, Hifumi! And thank you guys for coming!”

Kaito, still looking drained from the whole ordeal, sighed. “I mean… I’m always glad to hang out with my sidekicks, but next time, we’re watching something _ not _about occult bullcrap. Deal?”

“Heheh… deal, Kaito.” Kaede agreed through her giggling. The gaggle of Ultimates started to disperse shortly after, with Kaito sluggishly dragging himself out the door to meet up with Leon, Gundham loudly proclaiming that it was time for the Devas to unleash a fragment of their unholy might lest their unbridled energy tear the entire mortal realm apart (or, as Kaede deduced, playtime), and lastly Kaede herself bidding farewell to Tsumugi and Hifumi after confirming that the former was alright being alone with the latter. As she left Hifumi’s room, she did so grinning. She had a definitive success here, and had gotten considerably closer with her fellow students for it. If she could keep it up, maybe her long shot of a plan would work out after all.

***

After the anime party, Kaede returned to her room. She hadn’t made any other plans for the evening, leaving her with a few hours to kill before dinner would be ready. The ahoged girl had considered joining in on Leon and Kaito’s gambling contest, but decided against it when she thought back to Leon’s apprehensiveness around her and Tsumugi. Kaede figured it would probably be better in the long run if she let him warm up to her on his own rather than forcing him to be friends. Besides, considering Kaito’s involvement, it’d probably end up being a whole ‘bro’ thing anyway.

As such, Kaede was alone in her cabin, currently thumbing through a book on Beethoven somewhat distractedly. It proved to be far more relaxing than she’d assumed the previous night, mostly due to not directly relating to the piano most of the time, so she at least had something to do when she was alone other than dwell on regrets. Reading about one of her favorite musicians of all time was certainly a good way to pass the time, even if she already knew nearly everything in the book. Not that she minded that much. Half the fun of music was learning a piece, but the other half was mastering it, after all. It mostly served as something to do while she ruminated on the day.

All things considered, it had actually been wildly successful. At the very least, she had started building bridges with the more… _ difficult _among the group, as well as strengthen her existing bonds. There were still far more mysteries than answers, much to her chagrin -how they were even here topping the list- but those could be dealt with later rather than sooner. 

The only true wildcard was Monokuma. If her killing game was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be long before he gave the first motive, and that would more than likely be disastrous. Shuichi had, ironically, been the one to inspire her to kill last time, but the time limit had still been a crushing weight on all of them, and they had actually been unified. Could she count on that sort of solidarity if he reused it, or introduced something even _ worse _?

Kaede took a breath, shaking her head slightly. No, those were defeatist thoughts. She could trust her new friends a little more than that. _ They _ hadn’t been the first ones to draw blood, now were they? If the pianist kept herself in check, it would be far easier to keep everyone else together. In order to do that, she just had to keep up her current work… and try to convince Mikan, Mondo, and Sakura to join the group. Those three were the only ones she still hadn’t had any real interactions with since their memories were restored, and as such, were the only ones she couldn’t reasonably predict the actions or reactions of. Both pragmatically and just as someone who wanted to make friends with as many people as possible, getting to know them would be her top priority if she wanted to minimize the effect of whatever motive the bear was scheming up. Besides, if they were suffering the same way she was, she had to do whatever she could to help them! In fact… hadn’t Kaito mentioned wanting to try coaxing them out after he was done with Leon? Maybe she should join him… she glanced at the clock. Five forty-five… it would probably still be a while before dinner, and Kaito would probably be done by now.

Kaede gently closed her book and set it aside before rising from the sofa. “Okay… they probably aren’t that different from yesterday. I just have to be careful… and patient,” She murmured, trying to figure out how she should handle the trio of blackened. Having Kaito as backup was basically a requirement for Mondo and Sakura, given their strength, even if they both seemed incredibly remorseful the day prior. She smiled at herself in the mirror, pumping her fists. “You’ve got this!” The pianist declared confidently as she marched over to the door and opened it. Kaede walked out with her head held high... only to collide with a solid wall of muscle that knocked her to the ground. She yelped, startled, falling down on her back and causing a small pain to flicker through her shoulders and elbows where she landed. "Ow…" She groaned, looking up to find an absolutely mortified Gonta staring back at her in surprise.

"Ah! Kaede! Gonta so, so sorry! Gonta not see you! Are you okay?" He fretted, dropping to a knee and bowing his head apologetically as he offered her a gargantuan hand. The guilty look in his soft red eyes actually just made _ her _feel bad for upsetting the gentle giant, completely accidental as it was.

"I'm alright, Gonta. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry, I should have paid more attention to where I was walking," The pianist reassured, taking his hand. He lifted her like she weighed nothing at all, her entire hand barely able to hold just two of his fingers. _ "So strong, but he's still softer than a teddy bear. How could someone literally raised by animals be this nice?" _ The blonde wondered. Once she found her balance, she offered him an encouraging smile. "Thanks. You really are a gentleman, you know?"

To her surprise, Gonta cringed. "No. Gonta not gentleman… Gonta never be gentleman. Gentlemen not kill anyone, especially not kill friends. Gonta worse than idiot. Gonta b-bad person."

Kaede's eyes widened before wincing guiltily. _ "Oh… how could I forget? Even _ ** _Gonta _ ** _ of all people killed someone. Didn't he say it was Miu…?" _ She tried to recall, piecing together as comforting a response as she could. He deserved better than to drown in guilt like she did. After all, Gonta wasn't like her. He just didn't have it in him to plan out a murder, be it the intellegence or the cruelty. It _ must _have been something outside of his control, so he shouldn't have to suffer like that. "Gonta, that's not true! You're a great person!"

Gonta frowned deeply, tears prickling in his eyes. "But Gonta killer… how could Gonta be good person?"

An idea struck Akamatsu that she _ knew _he wouldn't try to argue. "Well… do you think me and Kaito are bad people? Or Kirumi and Kiyo, or Gundham?"

Gonta's eyes went wider than dinner plates. "H-huh?! No! Kaede is wonderful person! So are others! Gonta never not like you!" He quickly corrected, looking almost hurt at the insinuation that he thought that way.

"But we killed people, too, didn't we?" She quietly added, the words a stab in her heart. Gonta must have felt the same as the muscular Ultimate flinched.

"But… Kaede wanted to save friends. Gonta… not know why most of other friends kill, but they must have reason, right?"

_ "... I think I've got him, but should I push this?" _The pianist hesitated. If she did and it worked, she'd have some more information on what happened after her death and be able to console her distraught friend. If it didn't work, she might just make him feel worse. That was the last thing she wanted, but she would get nowhere if she didn't have more to work with. Taking risks were the only way forward… even if taking a risk is what got her here in the first place. Steeling herself, she answered, "Maybe so… but that means you must have had a reason, too. Do you remember what it was?"

Gokuhara closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Gonta not remember why he kill, either. Um… Computer Gonta said he kill Miu to save everyone by killing them, but that make no sense! How could killing friends save them?"

Kaede blinked, cocking her head to the side in bafflement. "'Computer Gonta'?"

He gave a miniscule nod. "At end of trial, Monokuma pulled out computer with Computer Gonta in it. Computer Gonta like Gonta, but… scary. Computer Gonta talk about dying like it good thing. Gonta think Shuichi say Computer Gonta happened when everyone took nap and kept talking about ver-chew-all world… it no make sense at all to Gonta…" He sniffled, tears spilling out from his closed eyes.

Kaede's lips thinned. Virtual world? Computer copies of her friends? Just what crazy things did they _ find _after she died? Despite her confusion about the circumstances surrounding it, Gonta did confess something that helped her goal of comforting him. 

"... I don't really know what you mean by that, but… you said that you, or the other you, wanted to help everyone, right? It might have been in a really skewed way, but you were still trying to do what you thought was right. If I'm not a bad person for what I did," She lied through her teeth at that, choking down the flare of self loathing that reminded her that yes, she _ is _a horrible person that deserved to die for what she'd done. "Then you can't think of yourself as a bad person!"

The musclebound man was visibly taken aback, slack jawed and wide-eyed. “H-huh?! Do you really mean that, Kaede? Gonta… _ not _bad? Gonta not think you bad, but is Gonta really same as you...?”

“You’re _ better _than I am. Even if you don’t believe that, though, just keep what I said in mind, okay? Don’t beat yourself up for something you wouldn’t hold against someone else.” Akamatsu requested softly, staring at him pleadingly. Gokuhara cringed once again, wincing as if she’d slapped him.

“Gonta… Gonta not sure Gonta could ever do that. Gonta hurt friends, whether Gonta try to or not. Gonta knows Gonta no can fix that. Maybe Gonta not explain this right - Gonta sorry Gonta so bad with words, but... Gonta not blame Kaede for killing Rantaro. But… does Kaede not blame Kaede?”

Now the pianist felt like _ she’d _ been slapped. She couldn’t lie about _ that _ -she’d sooner be executed a thousand times over than disgrace Rantaro’s memory like that. His death was no one’s fault but her own. It was her fault no one would ever see that carefree grin of his ever again, that they would never get to escape and be friends like she promised. Everything he was is _ gone _ because of _ her _ . Did Gonta realize just what a loaded question that was… no, of course he didn’t. Gonta would never _ intentionally _say something hurtful. Her discomfort must have been apparent as he quickly raised his hands disarmingly. “Ah! Sorry! Gonta not mean-”

“N-no. Don’t apologize. It was a fair question,” Kaede reluctantly confessed with a grimace. She sighed, squeezing her arm in a vain attempt to comfort herself. “I… I do blame myself. I think I always will. Nothing can take back what I did…” She fought back against the tears prickling at her eyes. She clenched her hand so hard that her arm ached. Kaede Akamatsu could never forgive herself for murdering her friend. It was the complete and honest truth… and it was the exact opposite of what Gonta needed to hear right now. Despairful guilt glinted in his eyes, his own tears rapidly reappearing. That managed to hurt her even more. Choking down the crushing guilt of her actions, she forced herself to continue. “But that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I… I promised I'd expose the mastermind, and I still have to live up to that. I _ have _ to for Rantaro's death to mean anything. So… you just have to find a purpose. If there's something you can put your mind to, you can at least try to make things right."

"Gonta… need… purpose?" He slowly, brow furrowed deeply. It only deepened at Kaede's nod. "... What should Gonta's purpose be?"

Akamatsu shook her head lightly. "I can't tell you that. Everyone has to find their own purpose."

"How Gonta find it? Is there map? Gonta not really good at hide and seek..."

Kaede pursed her lips, folding her arms under her chest in thought. "That also usually depends on the person, but… think about something you really, _ really _want to do. Like… something you'd be willing to trade your talent to do."

Gokuhara put a massive paw to his chin. "Thing Gonta really want to do, enough to stop being entomologist? Gonta… Gonta would give up bugs to protect friends. Gonta would even give up Gonta! Gonta failed last time, but… Gonta never fail friends again! That Gonta's purpose!" He professed, determination shining in his auburn eyes like a roaring fire. It was contagious, lighting a spark in Kaede as she clasped her hands together with a beam as bright as the sun.

"Exactly like that! That's wonderful, Gonta!" Kaede heartily agreed. The wild-child turned wannabe gentleman grinned gratefully at her.

“Thank you, Kaede! Gonta not feel as bad anymore! Because of purpose, Gonta know what to do now!”

Kaede felt warmth bubble in her, relieved to have helped her friend. “You’re welcome! I know you’ll do great!” She encouraged cheerfully. A comfortable silence descended for a few moments before a realization struck the pink-clad leader. “Come to think of it, though, what were you doing when we bumped into each other?”

Gonta’s eyes bugged out, the boy stiffening with realization. “Oh! Gonta was supposed to help Celeste! Gonta completely forgot!”

Akamatsu tilted her head. “Huh? I thought you were doing that earlier. Did you end up not going with Kaito and Leon for their casino thing?”

“Gonta did, but Celeste ask Gonta for help again after! Uh, if Gonta being honest, Gonta kind of glad. Leon look really mad when he lost… and he say ungentlemanly words. _ Lots _of ungentlemanly words...” He admitted, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She simply sighed, mentally rolling her eyes as she pictured the Ultimate Baseball Star’s tantrum. “You’d think an Ultimate athlete wouldn’t be such a sore loser. He acts like such a teenager sometimes!”

“Uh… Gonta not good with numbers, but Gonta thought friends were teenagers?”

Kaede paused as she realized her mistake. _ “Well, yeah, but that’s just an expression. Then again, I don’t think Gonta would really get it even if I explained…” _She noted dryly. Externally, she answered, “... He acts like a little kid sometimes?”

“Ah, Gonta get it! Gonta not know many kids that say bad words so much, though.”

Kaede giggled a little. “Me neither. Speaking of that, though, where is Kaito?”

“Gonta think Kaito still arguing with Leon. Gundham come by and started yelling weird things Gonta not understand, and then Kaito also start saying strange things about stars. Gonta… not get it, if Gonta being honest. Very confused.”

_ “Three arguments in one day? I can’t tell if they love or hate each other! So much for trying to coax the others out...” _Kaede actually did roll her eyes at that. “... I guess I should have expected something like that would happen. Oh well... that aside, what exactly are you doing for Celeste?”

Gokuhara put his hands on his hips. "Celeste ask Gonta to help bring chairs from Kirumi's lab to her room. Then Gonta move furniture inside room for her. Celeste said Gonta is 'adequate'!" The entomologist announced with a smile. Kaede’s grin faltered at that.

“That’s not really a… nevermind. Did you say you were taking it from Kirumi’s lab?” He gave an affirming hum and she crossed her arms, pouting at him. “You made sure to ask permission first, right?”

Gonta didn’t bat an eye. “Celeste say Kirumi not mind! In fact, this help Kirumi! Celeste say it less stuff for Kirumi to clean in her lab!”

Akamatsu stared at him somewhere between dumbfounded and completely unsurprised. “... Gonta, Kirumi’s going to have to clean it anyway if she cleans our rooms. Celeste just wanted it for herself.”

Contentment turned to shock and then pure horror in the span of three seconds. “Wh-what?! Celeste make Gonta steal?! Th-that unpossible! Gonta no can be thief!”

Kaede could only offer him a sympathetic look. “It’s okay, Gonta. I know you just wanted to help. You should probably explain what happened to Kirumi, though. In the meantime, I’ll go talk to Celeste.”

He guiltily nodded. “Gonta think Gonta go do that. Gonta sorry again. Goodbye, Kaede.”

She smiled, waving to him as he started going towards the dining hall. “See you later, Gonta!” The pianist bid farewell, keeping up her grin until he stepped through the double doors and her expression fell to a slight scowl. “Seriously, Celestia?! What’s wrong with you?!” She grumbled in absolute disbelief of the gambler as she marched over to Ludernberg’s door. The nerve of it would almost be impressive if Celeste hadn’t apparently made it her mission in life to make things unnecessarily difficult for Kaede! Huffing in annoyance, she raised her hand, knocked, and waited.

Three steps forward, one step back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news, that bit about the first motive isn't just conjecture. The motive drops next chapter, and a body is bound to follow soon after. Just a little bit longer, guys!


	7. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Daily Life Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede gets to work on convincing the last few isolationists of the group to join them, to mixed results.
> 
> PART ONE OF A TWO-PART UPDATE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, so sorry for the delay! We've been hammering away at this chapter nonstop since before we published the last one, and it took until now to be fully prepared for you all! Just one problem... it's 36,000 words. We can't just have that as a single chapter, now can we? That's half this fic's length *before* this update! Should we delay it until later to make things easier on ourselves...?
> 
> ... Nah, fuck that! You guys have been patiently waiting for this to continue, and by god are you in for an update! I'm hereby announcing a special DOUBLE CHAPTER UPDATE! That's right, after you read this chapter. you can IMMEDIATELY pick up with the next one, which features the first motive and the official start of Deadly Life! Enjoy, dear readers!  
-Mr Cynical

To call the conversation Kaede had with Celeste aggravating would be an understatement on the same level as saying she was alright at piano. Kaede liked to think she was relatively patient with people, if admittedly not in general. She was willing to put up with Kokichi of all people! As such, it took a lot to wear her down. That pretty short list included Miu Iruma, Teruteru Hanamura, and as of that conversation, Celestia Ludenberg. 

Kaede really hadn't planned on it being a particularly troublesome conversation. Her plan was just go in, tell Celeste it was wrong of her to manipulate Gonta, and maybe manage to convince her to put at least some of it back. Needless to say, that couldn't have been farther from the case. When she knocked on the door, she expected to see a few of Kirumi's chairs, maybe even one of the smaller tables. As such, when Celeste opened the door and Kaede spotted not only _ multiple _ couches, but the _ entire dining table _from the lab, she was absolutely dumbstruck. "I- wh- how?!" She sputtered out, eyes nearly bulging out of her skull in sheer shock.

Celeste blinked at her. "Good evening to you as well, Kaede. May I help you with something?"

After a few more moments of stunned silence, Kaede came back to her senses. "R-right, yes!" She exclaimed before her expression fell to a pout, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "You shouldn't have manipulated Gonta like that!"

The gambler didn't even flinch at the accusation. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

The pianist glowered at her, insulted by the brazen lie. "Don't try to lie to me, Celeste. Gonta literally just told me you had him take furniture from Kirumi's lab, and I'm certain you didn't ask her permission first," Akamatsu pointed over her shoulder at the stolen dining table. "Unless you're trying to say _ you _managed to get that down here… somehow. I don't know how even Gonta could manage that."

Ludenberg stared blankly at her for a few seconds before sighing, her lips tugging downward ever so slightly. "Hm. Seems that bet didn't pay off… c'est la vie. I assume you're here to berate me, then?"

"More or less," Kaede admitted, her hard look softening to a small frown. "But I'm willing to hear you out first. Why did you trick Gonta into stealing furniture? Kirumi probably would have just given it to you if you actually asked."

"Allow me to save us both a long and tedious lecture, then. It's quite simple, really. As you said, she _ probably _ would have allowed it. However, I do not know her like you do, and as such, I predicted a much lower chance of her saying yes to _ all _ of my requests. Furthermore, probably is not a guarantee. I _ absolutely _needed to replace the subpar amenities Monokuma provided. Lastly, given her personality, it is unlikely she will actually be bothered enough to demand I return it than if I asked and she refused, but took it anyway. It appears I would have gotten what I wanted regardless, so in the end, I simply saved myself time and the chance for rejection," Celeste calmly explained, smiling pleasantly at the pianist. "Will that suffice?"

Kaede's lips thinned. "That makes sense… but you still shouldn't have done it! Taking things without asking is bad enough, but tricking someone else into doing it with you is terrible!"

The gambler's face tightened ever so slightly. "I'm not a child, Kaede. I am well aware that stealing and lying are not socially accepted. I am also not interested in a lecture. What's done is done, I'm afraid. Goodbye."

"Celeste, wai-" Celeste closed the door before Kaede could even finish her sentence, the lock clicking into place a moment after. Kaede stared at the door in surprise. _ "Seriously?! How can anyone be that spoiled?!" _ She decried in her mind. Kaede's eyes narrowed into a scowl as she raised her hand and knocked again… and again… and kept knocking at an increasingly fast and irritated pace with each time Celeste ignored her. She couldn't just let her get away with that! It was a matter of principle at this point, the pianist refusing to back down until she at least got another word in. 

After about fifteen seconds of knocking, Kaede decided to spare her knuckles and swapped to spamming the gambler's doorbell. Most would call it childish, and in truth, Kaede would be inclined to agree under most circumstances. But, for better or worse, stubbornness had always been one of Kaede's greatest strengths and faults. She simply wasn't the sort to leave things unfinished. At the moment, that meant bugging her gothic acquaintance into finishing their conversation. Even if she couldn't get her to acknowledge that she was wrong, the pianist hoped to at least convince her not to do it to Gonta again, if not stop taking advantage of both him _ and _Hifumi. 

Finally, after nearly a full minute of ringing, her relentless nagging paid off as the door swung open to reveal a _ very _ pissed off Celestia Ludenberg. Kaede started to speak, only to let out a startled squeak as Celeste grabbed her by the tie and snarled in her face. "KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF BEFORE I _ FUCKING BURN YOU ALIVE! _" Ludenberg roared, her accent slipping completely in favor of sheer rage. Kaede stared wide eyed and somewhat terrified at the nearly unrecognizable girl. Almost as soon as the threat left her mouth, she stepped back and slammed the door closed, glaring at her the entire time.

Akamatsu could only stare at the door, completely gobsmacked. Celeste's character breaks were frightening enough when they were directed at other people, but being directly on the receiving end felt like the verbal equivalent to getting slapped by Gonta or Sakura. _ "G-g-geez! What… what the hell was that?! Does she have a split personality or something?! That might explain it… but either way, that doesn't excuse it! Just who does she think she is?!" _ She silently fumed in complete astonishment. As soon as the shock wore off and transformed into outrage, the blonde raised a fist, preparing to pound on Celeste's door yet again and demand an apology, but quietly let it fall back to her side with a frustrated huff. As much as it bothered her, Celeste was right about one thing: it would be a complete waste of time to try to convince the Ultimate Gambler she was wrong on just about any account. She'd be better off talking to someone who _ might _listen than someone who absolutely wouldn't. And, frankly, she wasn't eager to get shouted at again.

Defeated, Kaede let out a breath and turned away from the door, debating what she should do next. Teruteru and Kirumi would be busy for a while. Subsequently, Gonta would probably offer to help any way he could to make up for his 'ungentlemanly behavior'. She checked her map to see what the others were up to, but given that most of them had either formed their own cliques or were holed up in their rooms, it didn't seem like she'd be able to join in without being a third wheel at best or an intruder at worst. Of the ones still in their rooms, Chiaki was just taking a nap, Tsumugi and Hifumi were likely still talking about their favorite animes, and she didn't feel comfortable trying to talk to Sakura or Mondo on her own. That left… Mikan.

A pang of guilt hit the pianist. She was ashamed to admit that she'd nearly forgotten the poor, fragile girl with all that had happened in the last day. Mikan had barely been functional the last time she saw her, and she'd been sitting in her room all alone like that for almost a full day… Kaede's heart sank just thinking about it. That regretful pity quickly transformed itself to determination. If the nurse had been that devastated just from remembering she killed someone, there was almost no way she would actually try to attack Akamatsu. As such, she had absolutely no reason not to try her hardest to help the distraught medic. 

The only challenge was trying to figure out how to go about it. Mikan was like a glass twig; one false step, and Kaede risked shattering her completely. She couldn't be nearly as risk-taking as she was with Gonta. The pianist did have _ slightly _ more experience helping Mikan than the other two, given the incident behind the stage, but while it would probably be a good starting point, the lavender-haired girl was infinitely more intact then, even if that didn't say wonders about her usual mental health. Mikan needed someone strong but kind, willing to guide her without berating her. _ Very _gentle nudging and soft spoken reassurances were probably the way to go, as much as she'd prefer to build Mikan's confidence than simply become a buoy for the girl to let lead. Walking up to the door, the blonde kept thinking about what exactly she should say even as she started executing her plan.

Kaede softly rapped her knuckles against the wood to announce her presence. "Hey, Mikan? It's Kaede," She greeted, pausing to listen for any sign of movement. Pressing her ear against the door, she could very faintly hear the sound of sniffling, at least confirming that the nurse was indeed in there and awake. Despite that, no answer came back, the dead air prompting her to continue. “... I wanted to make sure you were okay, after… everything. Trust me, I know it’s a lot to take in at once… but you don’t have to take it in alone if you don’t want to. I know I wouldn’t be able to handle any of this by myself. I don’t know about you, but for me, bad feelings are always worse when I don’t have anyone to talk to...” The musician offered, a self-deprecating smile playing across her lips with a sad chuckle. “Heh… just between the two of us, I’m kind of a mess right now anyway. I don’t know if I’d have ever left my room if Kaito didn’t talk me into it. I bet it sounds impossible, but it’s true… even if we don’t know _ exactly _ what you’re going through, we’re all in pretty similar boats. What I’m trying to say is that you can trust us. You don’t need to be scared, or… or feel like you don’t deserve help. I promise you do, okay?”

The following silence was deafening to Kaede’s ears. She couldn't hear even Mikan’s hushed gasps and sniffs anymore, the former leader left in a damningly perfect quiet. Her tiny smile slowly faltered more and more with each second that dragged by an eternity at a time. It wasn’t long after that she realized her attempts to console and encourage the pitifully fretful girl had likely failed. Kaede sighed disheartenedly. It made sense that the encouragement of someone who was basically a complete stranger wouldn’t instantly get her to open up when it seemed like Mikan was terrified of everyone even _ before _ finding out they were a bunch of murderers, but that didn’t keep the emotional side of her brain from feeling deeply disappointed. She wasn’t much of a leader if she couldn’t even inspire people to leave their rooms, let alone make friends with everyone else… of course, she’d be even _ less _of a leader if she just gave up on one of her friends so easily! She just had to figure something out! There was still a way to make this work if she tried; all she had to do was come up with something that could break through whatever horrible thoughts must have been plaguing Mikan! Having successfully re-energized herself with the thought, Kaede closed her eyes as she tried to form a plan. Maybe she could try-

_ Click… _

Kaede blinked. Did she imagine that, or… no, squinting at the door, she could see that it was opening ever so slowly. Had… had her speech actually worked out after all? After several moments, the door was ajar enough for Kaede to lay eyes on Mikan for the first time since they regained their memories. The nurse had clearly seen better days; her eyes were puffy and red, her face marred with streaks from tears old and new alike. Heavy black lines underlined her eyes, making it obvious that she hadn’t slept much, if at all. Her hair looked even more disheveled than it had when they met.The poor thing was shaking like a puppy left in the rain, staring at Kaede with the same terrified, begging eyes of a lost child. Tsumiki flinched the moment she made eye contact with the pianist, slamming the door shut with a pitiful shriek. Akamatsu blinked again, her lips falling to a frown.

_ “Damn it, so close! I didn’t mean to scare her! Was it something about how I looked?" _ She mentally swore. Stifling a disappointed groan, she spoke once again. "It's okay… I'm not going to hurt you. You don't have to come out if you don't want to, Mikan, but I promise I'll be there for you when you decide you're ready. Okay? Just take as long as you need…" Kaede gently encouraged, quietly hoping Tsumiki would muster up enough courage to face her again. A few beats passed with no response from the other side of the door beyond pitiful-sounding hiccups and sniveling. Akamatsu closed her eyes. _ "... I don't think she's coming out. Did I come on too strong, or is she just not ready yet? _ ** _Can _ ** _ she even get ready if she's stuck being miserable and alone like this? Ugh, I wish I could just reach out and help her like I want, but forcing her might just make everything worse! Why does it have to be so complicated-" _

_ Click… _

Her thoughts were once again cut off by the sound of the door unlocking. _ "...! She's doing it! Yes!" _ Surprise quickly turned into a tempered elation, the pianist forcing her delighted grin to shrink down to a small supportive smile. 

The red door sluggishly creaked open more and more until Mikan's pitiful form was once again visible. She was still quivering like a leaf in the wind, but only flinched at Kaede's gaze instead of running away and hiding this time. "K-K-Kaede… I-I'm s-so sorry! Y-you were just trying to be n-nice, b-but I-I… I… ah! I d-don't deserve it! B-but I-I'm too t-terrible to have any right to say no! I'm sorry!" She shrieked through her tears, barely able to get the words out between her sobs and worse than usual stutter as she curled in on herself as much as she physically could while standing. Mikan tried to close the door, but before she even realized what she was doing, Kaede blocked it with her foot. "H-huh? Ah! I'm sorr-"

"It's okay, Mikan. Really. I forgave you last night, remember?" She reminded tenderly, watching uncertainly as the nurse suddenly stiffened.

"Y-you meant that? B-but d-d-don't y-you… hate me?” Mikan’s voice was little more than a whimper, fresh tears rolling down her face before she even finished the question. 

Kaede’s eyes widened, her smile dropping out of sheer surprise before she shook her head without another millisecond of hesitation. “No! I could never hate a friend!”

The lavender-haired girl gasped like Kaede had struck her. Even more tears welled in her greyish-purple irises, her lip trembling and choked sobs rocking her body. “R-r-r-really? Y-y-you w-wouldn’t…? B-but am I r-really your friend? D-do you even want t-to be friends with someone as h-h-horrible as m-me?”

“I promise. No matter what happened before we met, I want to be friends with you, and friends care about each other,” Kaede allowed the smallest smile to play over her features. She gently reached out and took Mikan's hand in her own, much to the latter's shock. “So that means I care about-oof!” She never got to finish her sentence, however, as at that moment, Mikan lunged forward and engulfed Kaede in the tightest embrace of her life. She could only squeak at the sudden pressure as the nurse hugged her with all the strength in her body. 

“Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!” Tsumuiki cried out at the top of her lungs. She rested her head on Kaede’s shoulder whilst her arms were like a vise around the pianist’s arms and torso, squeezing the girl like her life depended on it. “E-even though we just met, you’re being so nice to me! So thank you so much! I a-almost can't believe you'd want to like me even though I… I…" And in less than a second, Mikan's seemingly boundless joy evaporated entirely as she burst into tears yet again. "I-Ibuki… a-and H-Hiyoko... w-why… oh, I-I'm horrible!"

As awkward as she felt under Tsumiki's bear hug, Kaede shyly returned the embrace, rubbing the nurse's back comfortingly even as she grimaced slightly. _ "... Should I be doing this? This feels really intimate for someone I just met… but… she clearly needs it, so I guess it's okay?" _Kaede uncomfortably deliberated. Despite her own uncertain feelings, that was the easier part of the situation to deal with. The trickier part was figuring out what exactly she was supposed to say. She knew nothing about Mikan's murder. She couldn't guess what could drive such a sweet, shy girl to take a life when she was clearly devastated by her actions after the fact. 

By that same token, she had no idea what she could possibly say to ease Mikan's suffering. The only real basis she had were her own regrets and her attempts to console Gonta, who at least had a fairly similar situation to her own _ and _ wasn't too distraught to tell her about the parts she didn't know. At the same time, though, she couldn't spend much time trying to figure out an answer as Mikan continued crying into her shoulder. The only thing she could come up with was, "No, you aren't. Everyone here has made… _ mistakes _..." She forced the word out as if it were a curse, the understatement tasting bitter on her tongue. Choking that down, however, she continued. It seemed like her best option would be to glance over the killing itself and focus on the big picture, similar to what she'd done for the Ultimate Entomologist. "... Bad ones, that can't be fixed. But that doesn't mean everyone here's terrible, right?"

"N-no! Chiaki is my friend, a-and Gundham and Peko can be really nice even though they're kinda scary sometimes! A-and Teruteru… um… oh! He doesn't ignore me!" Mikan steadfastly defended with the most confidence than Kaede had ever heard from her. Glancing over the somewhat concerning description of Teruteru, Kaede latched onto the opportunity. 

"So if they aren't terrible people, then that means you aren't either. Doesn't that make sense?" Kaede pointed out with a kind but firm tone. On the inside, she was quietly blessing her lucky stars that Mikan was almost even more trusting than Gonta now that she’d finally lured her out of her shell. There would be no way this argument would work against just about anyone else. After all, it barely worked on herself. A couple moments of silence passed before the terribly shy RN cautiously lifted her chin from Kaede's shoulder and moved back enough for her to see the Ultimate Nurse trying and failing to meet her eyes.

"... Do you r-really believe that?" 

It was an unspeakable relief to Kaede that she really meant it when she said, "Yes, I do. I have faith everyone here can be a good person!!" The pianist declared, allowing her smile to grow with her enthusiasm. _ "But you know that's not entirely true, is it? There's at least one person who _ ** _is _ ** _ horrible..." _A dark voice in her mind bitterly spat. The pianist tried to pretend she hadn't just thought that, lest some small change in her expression send Mikan into another fit of hysterics. Thankfully, the nurse didn’t seem to notice whatever minute change might have happened as one of the brightest and yet frailest smiles Kaede had ever seen gradually split across Mikan’s usually anxious features.

“Y-y-you… you r-really do?” She repeated in a significantly more hopeful tone, though the small wince she gave made it clear some part of her was still afraid of Kaede suddenly doing an about-face and tearing into her. At Kaede’s instant nod and confirming smile, the last few traces of apprehension melted away from Mikan’s expression, the shy Ultimate staring at her like a kid meeting Santa Claus. “Heh… heheheh… th-thank you! Y-you’re so nice… I almost can’t believe it… eeep! N-not that I doubt you! I mean, you’re willing to _ forgive _ ** _me_ ** of all people, a-and you’re hugging-” Suddenly, Mikan’s eyes went as wide as saucers, fright filling her irises as she practically tossed herself off of Kaede. "AWAH! Oh no! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just hugged you like that without asking! I could have really hurt you! Y-you’re being so nice, and I’m being so mean! Sorry!" She squeaked out, tears yet again threatening to slip out.

It took nearly everything Kaede had not to groan out in exasperation. “You really don’t have to say sorry so much. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mikan cringed. “S-sorry… oh, I did it again! I’m s- ooooh…” She whimpered meekly. Another guilty pang hit Akamatsu, but at the same time, it was frustrating her so much to watch someone so ridiculously painfully shy. It must have finally leaked through to her face, because the girl curled into herself even more, exacerbating both of the conflicting negative emotions.

Stifling a sigh, Kaede asked flatout, “Did it make you feel better?”

Tsumiki paused, staring at her confusedly. “H-huh?”

“Did you like hugging me?” The pianist asked again.

The Ultimate Nurse looked apprehensive, nervously tapping her index fingers together. “I… um… well… y-yes. You’re just so n-nice, a-and it felt so s-safe, and- wh-!” Mikan was suddenly cut off as Kaede reinitiated the hug, pulling her in welcomingly despite her personal discomfort with doing something so forward. Half-startled half-delighted greyish purple eyes stared into her own lilac ones. “K-Kaede?!”

The blonde’s lips tugged upwards despite the slightly awkward embarrassment she felt committing the act. “If it makes you feel better, don’t feel sorry for doing it. I mean it when I say I want to help you any way I can. That’s my promise to you, okay?”

After several moments of silence, Tsumiki cautiously returned the embrace, as if Kaede were a snake that could leap out and bite her for any false move. When no such thing happened, the girl _ finally _ seemed to relax, decoiling in Kaede’s arms. “... I-I don’t know how I could ever th-thank you enough… no one’s ever, _ ever _done something that nice to me, not even people who wanted me to do f-favors for them…” Mikan almost giddily replied.

_ “‘Favors’ for them...? I don’t think I like where that’s going _ ** _at all_ ** _ … but I shouldn’t scold her for being taken advantage of. I’ll just have to make sure I talk to her about it later…” _She thought to herself in mild concern at the nurse’s implications. She’d simply have to put it on the list of things she’d have to work with her new friends to solve, landing somewhere in importance between escaping the ship, getting the others out of their rooms, and getting Teruteru to be less perverted on the ladder of urgency. “You don’t have to worry about paying me back for anything. I’m happy to help! But, if you’re okay with it, it would mean a lot to me if you had dinner with all of us. We’ve been really worried about you...”

“You have? I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make anyone worry! You can hit me if it helps!” Tsumiki panicked, the precise _ opposite _of the reaction Kaede was going for. So much for making her feel welcome!

“No! No one’s going to hit you! I meant they’d be happy to see you!” Kaede frantically corrected. The nurse stilled in her arms, looking at her oddly.

“People would be happy… to see _ me _?” She questioned in clear disbelief. 

Akamatsu nodded yet again, still caught between serious concern and astonishment at just how little Mikan actually thought of herself. “Of course! Who wouldn’t be happy to see a nice, cute girl like you?”

Mikan’s eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. “H-_ huh _?! Y-you think I’m…!” She trailed off, the compliment clearly taking her by surprise as her face turned bright red. A few moments later, Tsumiki managed a somewhat nervous if still positive smile. “U-um… well, if you’d like to, and people won’t hate me too much for being there, then… I think that sounds nice. Um, if you don’t mind, or change your mind later, or… oh, s-sorry for wasting your time. I really am happy about this! S-so, um, yes please!” The neurotic nurse finally managed to agree, still holding on to Kaede for support despite the uneasy but genuine grin on her face. An accomplished delight filled Kaede at the sight.

Before she could say anything more, however, a series of heavy footsteps rumbled from the stairway moments before Kaito appeared, quickly making his way down the steps. “Yo, Kaede! Is that you and Mikan? Great job getting-” He suddenly stopped short as he came into view, confusing Kaede until she realized they still had their arms wrapped around each other. Combine that with the scarlet dusting Mikan’s cheeks and… _ oh _. “... Uh... guess you really made a connection… good for you guys!” He declared with a thumbs up, oh-so-smoothly transitioning from awkward surprise to his usual brand of over the top upbeatness.

Mikan squeaked out in dismay, yanking her arms off of Kaede and burying her blushing face in them. “EEEEP! N-no! She wasn't- we weren't- oooh! N-n-not again! I’m so s-sorry, Kaede!” The nurse wailed, horrified. Kaede glared at Kaito, whose expression was one of slightly apologetic bewilderment. 

_ "Seriously?!" _ Was the only phrase that came to mind. She'd been on this ship for less than two full days, and she'd had no less than _ four _ different people make comments about her supposedly getting together with another girl! She wasn't particularly ashamed or apologetic about that aspect of it -if she found a girl attractive, they'd find out pretty quickly, as Tsumugi could attest to- but the fact that _ they _didn't seem to realize just how rude it was to keep assuming things about her was incredibly annoying! Sure, she could be a bit of a flirt at times, but she wasn't some feckless playgirl that just went around seducing anyone that caught her eye! Honestly, she couldn't believe the nerve of some people! 

Somehow, every last word of that rant must have been carried in her gaze, as Kaito bashfully scratched the back of his head, unable to meet Akamatsu's judging gaze any longer. "Uh… sorry. My bad. Didn't mean to embarrass ya. Just wanted to say it's good to see you out and about. And thanks for keeping up the good work, sidekick!" He said, most of his previous energy coming back despite Kaede's harsh look. 

Mikan, looking slightly less humiliated, stared at him. "It is…? Hehe… thank you!"

Seeing how easily mollified the nurse was by Kaito's recovery, she decided to let the issue drop despite her annoyance. "Of course. Always glad to help a friend!”

Kaito beamed at her. “Knew I could count on you! Any luck with the other guys?”

Kaede shook her head. “I haven’t tried yet. I wanted to wait until you got back.” She explained, _ “just in case” _ going unsaid but clear nonetheless.

“Ah. Sorry about the wait, then. Leon got pretty pissed off when I beat him, so we ended up arguing about baseball for a while before Gundham showed up and started shouting about… soccer, I think? It was pretty convoluted even by that guy’s standards. Took forever for them to give up, but as expected, the Luminary of the Stars came out on top! Even if was only by one coin!” He boasted pridefully. Kaede couldn’t help but smirk.

“So… you finally found someone with even worse gambling luck than you, Kaito?” She teased, earning a glower from the Ultimate Astronaut.

“Tch! That’s a bad way to look at it! You should be focusing on the fact that he owes us a baseball game now!” Kaito scolded sulkingly. Shaking his head, he changed the topic. “Point being, I’m here now, so let’s do it! Who do you guys wanna try first?”

“Um… I’m sorry, b-but I’m not trained to treat emotional or psychological t-trauma, so I don’t think I’ll be very useful… sorry. Um… and… to be honest, they seem kinda scary… oh, th-that was mean of me...” Mikan meekly added, looking ashamed.

“Ah, c’mon, Mikan! It’s not like we’ve got training for that either. It’s not about knowing exactly what to do, it’s trying to do it in the first place!” Kaito trumpeted, pumping a fist that Mikan violently flinched at, much to the former’s surprise. “Huh? You okay?”

“Ah! Sorry! I d-didn’t mean to insult you! Or make you worried! I-it’s good that you want to help people, a-and I do too! I just… um… people don’t really like talking to me, and then I start saying sorry so much they get upset or ramble and… oh no! I’m doing that right now! Sorry! I… I‘ll just stop talking now...” She trailed off miserably, looking like she might cry again. Kaito, by contrast, was clearly confused and slightly guilty.

_ “Geez… how can she live like this? Being scared and sad all the time… I thought Shuichi had bad anxiety problems, but she makes him look like Kaito in comparison! She really needs a friend right now…” _Kaede noted pitifully. Well, she was more than willing to be exactly that for her timid companion. The pianist gained a simper as she spoke. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mikan. And you don’t have to be sorry for being who you are, either. We aren’t going to force you to do something you don’t want to… but you shouldn’t be afraid to do it because you don’t believe in yourself,” Akamatsu clasped her hands together reassuringly. “Even if you can’t find that strength in yourself, if you borrow the strength of your friends, you can do anything you want!”

Momota latched onto Kaede’s supportive words to rejoin the conversation. “That’s right! The impossible is possible; all you have to do is make it so! As long as Kaede and I have your back, nothing can stop you!”

Tsumiki stared at the two in absolute stupefaction, nervously holding her hands together almost in a sad parody of Kaede’s friendly gesture. “B-both of you… want to be my friend? _ Two _people like me…? I… thank you so much!” The nurse practically exploded with joy. “I’ve never made so many friends at once in my whole life! I-if you both believe in me, th-then… I’ll try! I promise!”

“Alright! Welcome to the team, Mikan!” Kaito bombastically welcomed with a grin to match. His fists slammed together like a gavel passing a ruling. “Between the three of us, there’s no way they’ll say no! Lead the way, Kaede!”

Giving a confirming nod, Kaede debated her options. Kaito mentioned Sakura had at least heard him out when he invited her to lunch, whereas Mondo hadn’t even answered the door. That meant Mondo was likely dealing with it a lot worse than the Ultimate Martial Artist, but on the other hand, the latter would probably be easier to talking into joining the group. Between the two of them, Sakura would also be less likely to react overly negatively and frighten Mikan. Considering their chances of success with either one, Sakura seemed like the safer pick to Kaede’s mind as she led her companions to Ogami’s suite and knocked.

It didn’t take long to receive an answer, Sakura’s door gently opening as the martial artist stepped before them with crossed arms. Well, this was going smoother than her attempts at helping Mikan already, given that she’d actually acknowledged them without several minutes of coaxing before even answering the door. Sakura, for her part, looked infinitely more composed than Mikan had, though her stiff body language made it clear she wasn’t in a particularly upbeat mood either. The goliath bowed her head respectfully. “... Kaede, Kaito, Mikan… good evening. I am glad to see you are recovering, considering yesterday… I imagine there is much on your minds.”

Sakura’s voice seemed somewhat bittersweet, caught somewhere between genuine relief and distinct discomfort. It was strange to hear such apprehension from someone as stoic and quietly confident as Ogami… until her words from the day prior suddenly rang in Kaede’s head. _ “That’s right… she had one of the worst reactions to Monokuma before he used that… thing, on us. What was it she said…? ‘To take an innocent life is beyond forgiveness. I would sooner die than do something so cowardly’... and now that she knows _ ** _all _ ** _ of us are killers… she must be as shaken up as I was. She can’t forgive murderers, and yet that’s the only kind of people here. Even ignoring everything she must be going through too, that would explain why she’s so hesitant to join us for anything…” _

On the outside, Kaede frowned a little at the reminder of their shared sin. “Yeah… you could say that… it’s… a lot to take in,” The pianist quietly agreed, before shaking her head slightly. “... But, I know we’re not the only ones dealing with it right now. Me, Kaito, and the others have been trying to help each other as much as we can, and we were hoping we could talk with you, too. Kirumi’s making dinner, and it shouldn’t be that long before it’s ready. Would you like to join?”

Ogami hummed, closing her eyes. “Your concern is appreciated… but no. This is a battle I must face alone.”

Kaito crossed his arms. “Ah, c’mon, Sakura. That’s crap. A hero by himself is all well and good, but what happens when there’s something he can’t do alone? Everyone needs sidekicks, or at least some good friends!”

Kaede’s smile faltered to a pensive frown. “Kaito’s right. I can tell you first hand that trying to solve everything by yourself never ends well. It just hurts the people you were trying to protect...” She sorrowfully advised, stifling a guilty sigh. The bitter irony of her and Rantaro’s shared folly was by no means lost on her. The Ultimate Astronaut shot her a sympathetic glance, but didn’t comment on it.

“... You both speak wisely,” The gentle giant of a woman conceded. A moment later, however, she opened one eye, a silver orb containing the certainty of a lifelong warrior. “But that’s not my reason for isolating myself. It’s not merely a petty matter of pride. It’s one of safety.”

Kaede cocked an eyebrow. “_ You’re _worried someone might attack you? I don’t think there’s many people here who could even try that, let alone want to.”

The musclebound girl chuckled curtly and ruefully. “Precisely the problem. No one here stands a chance of defeating me… or defending themselves against me. _ That _is why I must remain alone until I can guarantee the safety of those around me.”

“Huh?! Hold up, you’re saying you’re scared _ you _ might hurt someone?” Kaito shot out in clear bewilderment. Ogami nodded.

“More or less, yes. Until I remember why I committed my crime, I refuse to put anyone else at risk. To do so would be an even graver dishonor than I’ve already brought on myself.”

“Um… I-I’m sorry, but… self-deprecating thoughts like that are very bad for you! Studies show a clear link between negative thoughts and declining health! A-and it’s also important you eat properly! Even missing just a couple meals can really throw off your metabolism! If you haven’t come out since yesterday, you’re already low on nutrients and digging into your protein stores, which can break down your muscles and all sorts of terrible things!” Mikan frantically retorted with a rarely seen level of confidence that looked almost alien on the meek nurse. A sort of slightly annoyed yet concerned panic danced in her eyes as she lectured the fighter, who flinched slightly at the remark.

“... Tch. While you’re correct that I can feel my muscles weakening each moment we remain confined here, this is nothing new. Eating properly or not will not prevent me from losing strength, but limiting my time around other people can protect them from me. I am willing to forgo my health -and even my promise to Kenshiro- for the moment if it means I can ensure the safety of the other prisoners on this ship.”

Kaede crossed her arms, her frown deepening. “But doesn’t the fact that you’re so against hurting one of us prove you won’t? Someone willing to kill wouldn’t be that focused on protecting a bunch of strangers.”

Sakura’s eyes darkened so much that it was as if Kaede were staring into a black hole of pure silent rage. “I swore to myself I would never fall for Monokuma’s treachery enough to take another’s life… yet here I am, and I can’t even remember _ why _. It’s clear I can no longer trust myself.”

Kaito’s fist flew from his side into the air, sending his coat billowing out behind him. “Then trust us enough to help you find the truth! We’re all trying to solve our own mysteries here, but imagine how much faster we could do them if we worked together!” He bellowed. Flashing a grin, he added, “Take it from the guy who mentored the Ultimate Detective: he does all his finest work when he has friends around to back him up! He didn’t believe himself either until he let in the people trying to help him, and once he did, he became unstoppable! I bet he’s figuring out some real life Bond villain’s plans as we speak!”

Kaede couldn’t help the wistful smile that pulled at her lips. After all the detective’s hesitation and fearfulness of exposing people’s sins, the fact that Kaito was so confident in his declaration about Shuichi made her heart soar. Of course he was doing great things! If anyone could have solved the killing game, it was him. That was their promise, after all… but she couldn’t dwell on that right now. She had to focus on convincing Sakura to join them, which didn’t seem to be working well right now, given how her jaw tightened.

“You speak as if I haven’t already betrayed my friends to arrive here. It’s clear he did no such thing, and it’s doubtful that he is considered one of the strongest people in the world. If this truth causes me to succumb again, what then?”

Kaito bared his teeth. “You keep assuming you’re gonna fail! You should go in assuming you’ll win!”

Akamatsu pursed her lips uncertainly. “Hmm… I think you both have a point. You should plan on succeeding, Sakura, but a backup plan wouldn’t be a bad idea. You’re afraid no one here could stop you if something went wrong… but what if there was? If you reached out to them, you could get help from friends _ and _make sure there was someone tough enough to keep everyone else safe if something went wrong.”

Sakura looked at her with a mix of intrigue and confusion. “... Who are you suggesting?”

Kaito slammed his fists together loudly, grinning triumphantly. “Well, who’s better equipped than the Luminary of the Stars? Kaito Momota never fails his sidekicks! It’d be my pleasure to take you under my wing! How about it?”

Ogami was less than impressed if her doubtful stare was any indication. “Without being cruel, you wouldn’t be much of a challenge, Kaito, and you’re one of the stronger people here. Though appreciated, I cannot accept your offer.”

Kaito’s face fell, the astronaut somewhat taken aback by the dismissal. Despite his bruised ego, he didn’t get to retort as Mikan spoke up, nervously tapping her index fingers. “Um… in that case, what about Mondo? He’s really strong, and he knows you, so he could help… um, maybe… sorry for assuming things!” Tsumiki frantically added, hiding behind Kaede like a scared child. The pianist tried her hardest not to sigh.

Sakura shook her head. "He is physically capable without a doubt, but he's undisciplined and quick to anger. He could only win a fight against someone weaker than him, and only if he did so quickly if his opponent had any form of training. Besides… given how his killing unfolded, I doubt he would be willing to even spar with a girl, let alone enter a real battle with one." She rumbled, a twinge of sadness painting her deep voice. 

Kaede's brow twitched, her eyes closed in thought._ "Hmm… think, Kaede. We need someone who's well trained in combat, decently strong, and emotionally composed… is there anyone like that here…?" _She mulled over for a moment before the answer practically slapped her in the face. 

"... What about Peko? She's not exactly eager to talk to people right now, but I think you two could get on pretty well. Plus, I don't think there's anyone better at fighting here than the two of you." Kaede suggested.

Kaito brightened up in an instant. "Hey, good idea, Kaede! Peko's pretty tough and doesn't mess around, but she isn't a jackass about it either! Right, Mikan?" 

The nurse startled at suddenly being called out, her eyes widening in surprise. "Huh?! Er-um-I mean- yes! Peko's a great friend! Sorry! I should have said that sooner! I-I just didn't think you'd care about my opinion!"

Kaede couldn't hold back her slight scowl. "Seriously, Mikan. You _ really _don't have to be sorry for everything. We believe in you, remember?" The pianist pouted in exasperation. That didn't stop the twinge of guilt that hit her at Mikan's cringe.

"S-sorry…" Tsumiki murmured dejectedly. Kaede winced a little, but didn't have time to apologize before Ogami spoke again.

“Hmm… the swordswoman, correct?” Sakura questioned, humming in thought at Kaede’s confirming nod. “She is doubtlessly capable to earn such a title. I can see it in how she carries herself. But… are you certain she would want my company?”

Kaede’s lips thinned. The natural answer was to lie and say yes, but the first answer isn’t always the right one. Sure, she could lie and make things easier for herself immediately, but what happened when Peko almost inevitably reacted poorly to whatever attempt at commeradirie Sakura made? Even if the martial artist didn’t resent her for lying, she’d likely stop trying to connect with Pekoyama, and with that she’d close off her best chance of getting Ogami to integrate with the others. It wasn’t a particularly convenient answer, but they say honesty is the best policy for a reason, don’t they? 

“To be honest… no-”

“Kaede! Seriously?!” Kaito immediately interrupted, staring at Kaede in a mixture of surprise and disbelieving annoyance.

“_ But _,” Kaede tersed out to retake the conversation. At the very least, it satisfied Kaito enough to make him shut up. “I think that’s just because she’s lonely too. Peko doesn’t seem like she had many friends in general. Kaito, remember when she mentioned people are usually afraid of her as soon as they meet? She’s probably used to being alone. But if she had someone that understood what it’s like to be feared for their looks or talent, maybe she’d be more willing to open up to people.”

Sakura studied Kaede for a long, quiet moment before turning to the side, her expression unreadable. After a beat passed, a low murmur sounded from the powerhouse of a student. “... You’ve given me much to think about. I can’t promise I’ll join you yet… but this could be another path forward. Thank you.”

The Ultimate Pianist nodded. “That’s fair. Just keep it in mind, okay? No one should have to go through this alone, not when there are people that can help.”

The barest hint of a smile tugged at Sakura’s lips, her eyes closing once again. “Your determination is admirable. It reminds me of a friend… I will consider what you’ve told me. Goodbye, for now.” Sakura bid farewell, giving one final nod and gently closing the door. After a moment, Kaito clicked his tongue.

“Well… that went alright, I guess. At least she’s thinking about it now…”

“D-did I not try hard enough? I’m sorry… you two believed in me, and I let you down…” Mikan whimpered meekly from behind Kaede. The blonde looked at her sympathetically, her earlier guilt at upsetting the frail hearted Ultimate.

“No, Mikan, you did great.” 

The nurse blinked at her in confusion. “Huh? But she didn’t come out…”

“But now she’s _ willing _to. If someone’s really dead set on something, one conversation won’t instantly change their mind. Just getting someone to consider doing something different is a success,” Kaede explained with a small smile. “I’m proud of you for trying, and I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. Keep up the good work, and have a bit of confidence in yourself, okay?”

Kaito gave a thumbs up. “Not bad at all for a first effort! Not that I ever had doubts, of course. Kaede knows how to pick ‘em.”

Mikan opened her mouth as if she were going to protest or ask if they were serious, but after a moment, let it fall into a giddy if slightly anxious grin. “... Eheheh… th-thank you! I’ll do my best!” The nurse happily announced. A few seconds later, she blinked. “But, um… what exactly are we trying next?”

Kaede checked her monopad’s clock. “Well, it’s six-thirty right now. We should still have a little bit of time to try and get Mondo out of his room before Kirumi and Teruteru are done. Let’s give that a shot.”

Kaito yet again slammed his knuckles together (though at this point, Kaede couldn’t help but wonder how he could do that gesture so much without hurting his hands) and grinned. “Alright! Leave it to me! I’ll level with him, man to man!” The astronaut shouted confidently as he marched to Mondo’s door and rang the doorbell with Kaede and Mikan in tow. Following several seconds of silence, he pressed it again. And again. By the fourth beat without response, he was mashing the button over and over _ and _knocking directly on the door, his triumphant beam falling to a look of mild annoyance. “Yo! Mondo! It’s Kaito again! Open up so we can talk!”

Kaede cocked an eyebrow, staring at Momota in cross between amusement and severe doubt. “Um… is this seriously your plan?”

“It was good enough to get Maki Roll out of her lab! Same basic principle!”

Akamatsu stared at him dumbly. _ “... ‘Maki Roll’? Since when was Maki close enough with… _ ** _anyone _ ** _ to let someone call her that without punching them or something?” _

She wouldn’t get to ponder that for long, however, as there was a very sudden and very loud ** _thud _ ** from the other side of the door that made Mikan jump with a frightened yelp. “ _ FUCK OFF, SPACE CASE! AIN’T FUCKIN’ INTERESTED! _” Mondo’s muffled voice roared from his room.

Momota’s look of surprise only lasted a second before swapping to a fierce look of determination. “C’mon, don’t be like that! We’re all gonna eat dinner together! You can’t tell me you aren’t hungry; I know you haven’t left all day!” Kaito retorted, only to be met with another ** _thud _ **of whatever Mondo was throwing against his door. He scowled. “Stop throwing crap around and talk to me, or I’ll camp here until you do!”

The ahoged blonde knitted her brow at the purple-haired wannabe hero. “Kaito, I don’t think that’s going to work. Let me try.”

“I’ve got-”

Kaede glowered at him, crossing her arms warningly. “_ Kaito _…”

Kaito held her gaze, the moments dragging by as their determination clashed. At the very least, he was too busy having to keep up his half of the staring contest to keep pounding on the biker’s door. “... It’s like a puppy’s glaring at me,” Momota smirked. It only served to make her scowl deepen, which unintentionally seemed to amuse him more, feeding into the cycle of pouting. At long last, he rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Tch, fine. You try.” He conceded, waving a hand. 

“Thank you,” She gruffed, rolling her eyes at his smirk and stepping up to the door. “Hey, Mondo? It’s Kaede. Sorry about Kaito. He can be a bit… forceful. I get it if you don’t want to talk, and you don’t have to, but-” Yet another ** _thud _ **caught her off guard, far louder to her sensitive ears with how close she was to the impact.

“_ Just leave me the hell alone, alright?! I’m just fuckin’ peachy without you guys botherin’ me, and you’ll be better off without me around to fuck things up! Now piss off! _”

Akamatsu stood there for a moment in shock. That… didn’t go like she thought it would. She glanced back at her companions, Mikan looking like she was about to burst into tears whilst anger flashed across Kaito’s face. She figured Mondo would be more difficult than Sakura, but the pianist hadn’t expected an outright refusal to even talk. It was pretty apparent he had the same concerns as the martial artist, though he was much more… visceral about it. What could she do about that, though? Get him to connect with someone like she did with Sakura? That could work… but who? Kaito was out of the question if their interactions so far were anything to go by. Ogami mentioned he wouldn’t be comfortable around girls, so that immediately wiped out half of the people on the ship. Maybe she could-

Before she could come up with a solution, the sounds of heavy approaching footsteps drew her attention to Gonta as he made his way down the corridor from the dining hall. “Ah! There friends are! Hello!” The entomologist happily greeted with a wave of one of his massive paws, grinning widely at the trio of Ultimates. Kaito returned his beam whilst Mikan said hello back… and promptly apologized for assuming she was one of his friends. By contrast, Kaede looked up at him curiously from her spot by Mondo’s door.

“Hey, Gonta. Were you looking for us?” She inquired.

Gokuhara nodded sharply. “Yes. Kiurmi ask Gonta to find friends and tell them to meet in dining hall soon. Gonta lucky to find people so quickly!”

Kaede hummed. “Guess dinner will be ready soon… did you hear that, Mondo? If you want, we could just leave you a-”

** _KA-SLAM_ **

“** _GO THE FUCK AWAY ALREADY!_ **” The Ultimate Biker demanded, throwing something large enough that Kaede felt the impact through the door. The pianist jumped and scrambled away from it instantly, staring at Mondo’s suite with wide eyes that slowly narrowed into a cringe.

“... Okay… I think it’s safe to say he’s not coming out right now…” Kaede conceded, cautiously stepping away from the door. Kaito frowned, crossing his arms.

“What, we’re giving up just like that? We’ve barely started on him! You guys go eat. I’ll stay here and wait for him to come out.”

Akamatsu looked at him, decidedly unimpressed. “Kaito, I don’t think there’s anything we can say right now that will get him to come out, or do anything other than annoy him. We should give him more time.”

“Um… if it’s okay to say, I think Kaede’s right. You can’t really help someone that doesn’t want it, at least not with emotional trauma. You can try your best, b-but unless they actually want to change, they’ll just keep hurting themselves. I wasn’t thinking about it until Kaede said it, but I’ve had a lot of patients like that…” Tsumiki offered shyly.

Momota clenched his jaw irritably, but didn’t outright refuse. Gonta, hopelessly goodhearted as he was, put a hand on Kaito’s shoulder. “Is okay, Kaito. You, Gonta and friends can try again later, when Mondo less mad! Gonta have faith we can help when time is right!”

A ghost of a smile pulled at Kaito’s lips. “You know it, big guy. Alright, fine. Let’s have a bit of something and figure things out from there. Lead the way, Kaede.”

Gonta scratched the back of his head, his massive fingers disappearing into his mane of a haircut. “Um… before friends go, does anyone know where other friends are? Gonta still have to find them, and ship is big place…”

“Oh, right. You should be able to see where everyone is on your map.” Kaede said, pulling out her monopad and demonstrating for the larger Ultimate. Gonta’s eyes lit up.

“Oh! That very helpful! Thank you, Kaede!” He said warmly, pulling out his own tablet and mimicking her actions. It looked more like a smartphone in his giant palm, but he didn’t seem to struggle reading it at all despite holding it at nearly arm’s length. “Gonta see friends shortly! Goodbye for now!”

With that, the gentle giant continued down the hall, his thunderous footsteps eventually fading away enough that even Kaede struggled to hear them without focusing. The pianist glanced at the map to see if there was anyone already inside the dining hall. Most of the students aboard seemed to already be there already (including Celestia, though Kaede had no clue when the gambler managed to sneak past them), with the notable exceptions being Sakura, Mondo, Gonta, Leon, Gundham, and...

“... Huh. Gonta missed Chiaki. I think she’s still napping… we should probably get her up…” She noted. It wouldn’t be much of a hassle; the gamer’s room was on the way to the dining hall anyway. 

Upon walking over and ringing the doorbell, Kaede could hear Chiaki’s sluggish movements inside the room. A few moments later, the pink-haired girl opened the door, rubbing her eyes and looking up blearily at the pianist. “Huh…? Oh… hi, Kaede. What’s-” Nanami abruptly stopped, suddenly stiffening as her eyes locked on to Mikan. After a moment, Chiaki blinked, all traces of drowsiness disappearing instantly. “... Hey, Mikan.”

The nurse in question smirked nervously, offering a tiny wave. “H-hi, Chiaki. Gonta told us dinner was almost ready, so we wanted to ask if you wanted to join us! Um… not that you have to sit with me if you don’t want to.”

Chiaki stared for a moment before seeming to come to her senses, blinking again and nodding. “Yep, sounds good. Just need a second…” She said, disappearing back into the room for a couple moments before reappearing with her handhelds. “Okay, ready… I think.”

Kaito looked at her quizzically. “Do you go anywhere without some game to play?”

“No,” Chiaki said blankly. At Kaito’s confused stare, she tilted her head. “... Is that weird?”

Momota scratched the back of his head. “Kind of? I mean, Kaede doesn’t have like a tiny piano in her pocket… wait, do you?” The astronaut questioned. Kaede giggled a little at just how serious he looked despite the absurd question.

“No… but to be honest, I probably would if I could.” She admitted, grinning somewhat sheepishly. _ “... At least, I would if it wasn’t so _ ** _tainted_ ** _ for me now.” _

“I always keep syringes in my pocket in case anyone needs shots! Would you like some?” Mikan _ way _too enthusiastically asked, pulling out a syringe and a vial of some sort to prove her claim. Kaede cringed, subconsciously taking a couple steps away from the medic.

“Um… no thanks! Maybe some other time?” Kaede playcatted, crossed between not wanting to upset Mikan yet again while also _ really _not wanting to get injected with some unknown substance by someone who was still an almost complete stranger. 

Tsumiki slumped a little. “Oh… okay… what about you, Kaito?” She suddenly perked up again, turning towards the Ultimate Astronaut, who looked absolutely horrified at suddenly being targeted.

“H-huh?! No way, I don’t want-” Kaede glared at him warningly. As much as she appreciated Kaito’s spirit and friendship, his habit of letting his mouth run faster than his mind was a dangerous one when it came to someone as easily rattled as Mikan. Seeming to realize her intention, Kaito made an admittedly pretty smooth recovery. “-to mess up NASA’s schedule! They’re, uh, pretty strict about when astronauts get shots and stuff like that. Tell you what, though! I should be good to get some by the next time Hailey’s Comet comes around!”

Mikan’s eyes widened. “Ah! I forgot you were an astronaut! You’re right; it could be really bad if you get exposed to too much too quickly! Sorry! B-but, um, if you don’t mind me doing it then, that sounds good!”

Kaede wordlessly raised an eyebrow at the two. _ “... Isn’t that the comet that only comes by once every seventy-five years…? Mikan’s going to be waiting a long time, I guess.” _

Before Tsumiki could even ask, Chiaki shook her head. “I’m good, thanks… but if you want, we could play some Doctor Mario together.”

“Um… I d-don’t know much about video games, but I’ll try! Thank you!” Mikan agreed contently, seemingly appeased despite being zero-for-three on her attempts to medicate her fellow students. Chiaki flicked on her console and handed the other to Mikan, the electronic beeps and chirps becoming a part of the background noise as the four entered the relatively full dining hall. The nearly dozen Ultimates were spread throughout the room, some of them in their usual cliques whilst others seemed to branch out. Towards the back of the hall near the kitchen was the rather strange squad of Korekiyo, Hifumi, Tsumugi, and a somewhat bored/annoyed Celeste staring at them as Yamada and Shinguji heartily discussed the anthropological value of the concept of fanworks as an expression of human creativity, with the occasional remark from the Ultimate Cosplayer. Peko, as usual, sat alone in the far right corner of the room, monitoring the room with a steely gaze. Kirumi was waiting the tables, effortlessly balancing a tray of drinks in one hand and serving them to their respective guests at Celeste’s table with the other.

Just as soon as she’d finished with them, Kirumi glanced over to the door and saw the four new arrivals, turning and approaching them. “Hello again, Mister Momota, Miss Nanami, Kaede. Miss Tsumiki, I’m pleased to see you join us tonight,” Tojo greeted, bowing her head with a professional but warm smile. Mikan startled slightly (_ “Is it really that hard for her to accept that people like her?” Kaede mentally frowned. _), but settled on a pleased -if unduly amazed- expression. Kirumi slightly inclined her head towards the tables. “Please, take a seat. I’ll return with refreshments shortly. Any particular requests?”

The maid diligently took their orders and guided them to one of the unclaimed tables, the four teens taking their seats and chatting. Most of the conversation consisted of Kaito regaling them with totally-not-exaggerated tales of his past adventures, though it eventually shifted into a surprisingly in depth conversation with Mikan about the space agency’s health standards and medical technology that was originally developed for space exploration. For once, Mikan was legitimately confident during the discussion, eagerly asking questions and providing some trivia along the way. It warmed Kaede’s heart to see the often terror stricken girl with a wide smile on her face considerably… even if the space talk started massively losing her interest by the third invention.

A short while later, Gonta returned with a somewhat smug Gundham and a rather annoyed Leon. Kaito smirked cockily and waved at the redhead… who proceeded to scowl and flip him off before storming over to Gonta’s usual table. Gundham confidently strutted over and joined them, putting the Dark Devas on the table. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out four small packs of sunflower seeds, dangling them about a foot in the air above the table. To Kaede’s amazement, the hamster’s took only a moment to stare up at the packets before squeaking at each other and clambering on top of the largest of them on only their hind legs, forming a wobbling tower of fluff that stretched up to just under Gundham’s hand. Jum-P (she thought, it was hard keeping track of which hamster was which) formed the final head of the tower, staying perfectly still for a long moment before leaping the final few inches into the air and ripping the treats out of the trainer’s hands, the other Devas quickly disassembling their tower to form a landing pad for their friend. Kaede almost felt like clapping at the remarkable display. Even Leon, despite his sour mood, looked impressed, though he didn’t appaude either. Gonta, however, more than made up for their hesitation. 

Appetizers were served some time after. It was more of a small buffet of items than a dedicated serving, mostly consisting of an admittedly large salad bar, a veritable amount of breadsticks, and a tub of French onion soup. Between it and the main course served later, it was evident that Kirumi and Teruteru’s cooking was as delectable as ever, but it would prove to be far from the most notable thing that night. The first highlight of the dinner occurred shortly after the first course of the meal was sent out. “... and that’s how we ended up with lasik technology! Pretty cool, right?” Kaito merrily explained, grinning between sips of his soup. 

_ “... It probably wouldn’t be polite to tell him it was boring, would it?” _Kaede noted dryly as she glanced around the table. Mikan looked genuinely enraptured by the whole discussion while Chiaki had apparently fallen asleep at some point, if her bleary-eyed confusion and soft ‘huh?’ was anything to go by. Thankfully, Mikan’s enthusiastic reply protected her from having to either obviously lie to or embarass one of her friends.

“Yes! It’s kind of crazy to think something originally meant for satellites ended up being so useful for restoring eyesight… a lot of really important discoveries are made completely on accident like that, actually. Penicillin was found after someone forgot to get rid of petri dishes. In fact…” Mikan continued, though Kaede tuned out in favor of the soft sound of the door opening. She glanced at the entrance out of mild curiosity only to be pleasantly surprised by the sight of Sakura wordlessly walking in. The almost monolithic woman’s arrival didn’t draw much attention, most of the students too caught up in their own conversations to hear her (likely intentionally) quiet arrival. Figuring Sakura probably didn’t want to be put on the spot, Kaede simply smiled and gave a small wave that the fighter returned with a nod.

After scanning the room for a moment, Sakura approached the table of appetizers and took a modest cup of soup before turning in Peko’s direction. Kirumi, who had been serving Celeste tea when Sakura entered, finally took notice of the powerful Ultimate. Excusing herself, the maid moved to intercept Sakura, politely clearing her throat to catch her attention. “Good evening, Miss Ogami. I’m pleased to see you’ve decided to join us. Feel free to sit wherever you’d like. However… I wouldn’t recommend trying to engage Miss Pekoyama right now. She requested to be left alone. I… don’t believe it would be pleasant if you disturbed her.” Kirumi quietly explained. Kaede doubted anyone else would have been able to hear it, as even her trained ears were slightly struggling to pick up on it above the general chatter of the over dozen Ultimates.

Sakura looked from Kirumi to Peko and back again. “... I understand. Thank you for your concern. It is, however, unnecessary.” The martial artist intoned politely before continuing her slow advance towards Peko’s table. Once she was about five feet away from the closest seat, the swordswoman put a warning hand on her sheath, glaring darkly at the muscular Ultimate. Sakura paused for only a moment, perhaps waiting to see if Peko would further escalate things. When it was clear Pekoyama wouldn’t try anything unless provoked, Sakura calmly continued, setting the bowl down on the table and taking a seat opposite of the still-glowering warrior, greeting her with a respectful bow of her head. 

A wordless tension settled over the two as Peko kept glaring at the fellow fighter, her hand refusing to waver from the hilt of her blade. Even despite the clear and present danger mere feet away from her, however, Sakura simply ate her soup in silence. At least a quarter of a minute passed before the black-clad samurai slowly reached for her spoon with her spare hand, hesitantly resuming her meal. Kaede couldn’t see Ogami’s expression from her seat, but the martial artist must have been smirking as Peko scowled at her. “Why are you smiling?”

“You’re ambidextrous. You fight with your right hand, but clearly have no trouble using your left. It’s a rare skill to possess, even for an Ultimate.” Sakura rumbled, a touch of admiration in her tone.

“... It was part of my training. My senseis intended for me to be as proficient as possible, no matter the circumstances.” Peko conceded, her icy features only slightly softening. 

“Mine as well. I learned from having my dominant arm tied behind my back, forcing me to defend myself with my weaker arm until I learned to control it just as well. I assume you learned through a similar method?”

The swordswoman studied her for a long moment before ultimately nodding. “... Yes. I had to be prepared to fight in any situation. So, when my right arm was broken in an accident, I began training with my left…” Peko explained, telling a somewhat vague but remarkable story of her early training that Sakura later followed up with a tale of her own. It was somewhat stiff and reserved on Peko’s part, but the fact that she was willing to tolerate someone else’s presence at her table, let alone speak with them, was a major success. Kaede stopped listening in to allow the pair some privacy, but made no effort to hide her content grin at the sight.

“... Hey, Kaede, what are you looking…? Huh. Guess your plan paid off. Nice work, Kaede,” Kaito praised, apparently finally noticing where she’d been looking at seeing the pair of isolationist warriors chatting amongst themselves. The astronaut grinned. “Maybe she’ll be willing to train with us now! Alright! If that’s happening, I’ll need more fuel for it! Back in a second!” He triumphantly declared, rising from his seat and all but strutting to the salad bar.

“Um… I think I’ll get some more, too, if that’s alright...” Mikan said, pausing and looking at Kaede. It took her a moment to realize the nurse was genuinely asking for permission before she gave her the go-ahead, pointing out that she really didn’t have to ask about something like that. Tsumiki almost giddily thanked her (much to Kaede’s increasing worry for just how low Mikan’s confidence actually was) and quickly moved to join Kaito. Once Mikan wasn’t looking, Akamatsu’s lips thinned.

“... Do you think she’s okay? I’ve known shy people, but this is way deeper than that...” Kaede hummed uncertainly.

“... I was kind of wondering about that. This is going to sound a bit weird, but… can I ask you something, Kaede?” Chiaki asked, looking the pianist in the eye with a weirdly determined look for the often bleary-eyed gamer. Kaede tilted her head a little, surprised by the sudden change of character, but nodded.

“Uh, sure. What’s up?”

Nanami glanced around before leaning a little closer to Kaede. “You’ve been hanging out with Mikan for a little while, right?” She asked, her voice oddly insistent. Kaede nodded, resulting in her pressing further. “Has she said or done anything weird lately?”

Akamatsu quirked an eyebrow. “I mean, kind of? Like I said, she’s really shy and scares easily, but isn’t that just normal for Mikan? Wouldn’t you or Peko be a better judge for that?”

Chiaki frowned. “I mean, weird even for her. Like, being easy to make her angry? Bitter towards anyone? Or… maybe mentioning a ‘beloved’?”

If Chiaki hadn’t thrown up redflags before, she most certainly had now. “No, no, and no. Seriously, Chiaki, what’s this about? You’re kind of creeping me out.”

Nanami glanced off to the side, regret coming over the girl’s features. “We… didn’t end things on the best terms, back in our game. I don’t know how much of it she remembers, but… nevermind. Just worried about everyone, you know?”

Kaede hummed. “Yeah, I know how that feels. I… wait, how much _ she _remembers? Do you remember something she doesn’t?” The pianist pressed, her eyes widening as she realized the subtle slip in Chiaki’s words. Nanami blinked.

“I… hey, guys.” Chiaki greeted as the nurse and astronaut returned, narrowly dodging the question. 

Kaede hid a frown, staring at the nurse in confused suspicion. Chiaki just tried to _ lie _ to her. Why? That meant she almost certainly _ did _know something, but what could be so important that she’d keep it from everyone? Kaede couldn’t call her out now, not in front of the others, but there was no doubt that the gamer had something to hide. Chiaki was against the killing game more than almost anyone, yet she was concealing information like that… could Kaede really trust her? If she couldn’t… no, she couldn’t just write her off like that, even if Nanami had just painted herself in a very suspicious light. There must have been a reason. She just had to find out what it was, and that was exactly what Kaede intended to do as she made a note to confront the gamer and get a straight answer from her the moment the two were in private.

Despite the quiet tension between the pair, things settled back into a semi-normal groove at the table with the chatter between the four (which Nanami was noticeably more involved in this time). It was almost enough to make her forget the gamer’s slip up as the conversation stretched on. Nothing particularly interesting or important was shared as much as just some companionable conversation. It was the sort of peacefulness Kaede had been working so hard to establish, and exactly the kind of respite she needed after the intensity of the past several days.

Naturally, such a nice lull in the chaos of the killing game couldn’t last forever. Like with Sakura, Kaede’s sensitive ears picked up on the soft creak of the door opening before anyone else, much to the pianist’s delighted surprise. Her lips curled upwards at the sight of Mondo sheepishly entering the room, though it strained slightly when she took in the biker’s appearance. The word awkward undersold just how uncomfortable he looked as the fearsome criminal glanced around the relatively upbeat gathering, his shoulders tensed and arms stiffly at his side. After several seconds of almost statuesque stillness, the pompadoured man let out a resigned sigh and uneasily made his way to the salad bowl, still bowing his head as if it would let him hide from everyone else.

Kaito’s bright grin quickly disproved that hypothesis. “Ha! See? What’d I tell you? I knew we’d get him out of there soon!” He pridefully boasted to Kaede before waving to the biker. “Yo! Mondo! Good to see ya!” The astronaut shouted merrily, seeming to either not realize or care that it put all eyes on the already unsettled man. Kaede could see his jaw tense, but Owada didn’t respond, opting to silently grab a bowl instead. Unsatisfied, Momota rose from his seat. “Be back in a minute guys! I-”

Kaede shook her head. “Kaito, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. We’re lucky he came at all. We should just let him come to us when he’s ready.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Kaede, stop babying him! He can handle talking with someone for five minutes!” Momota carelessly disregarded as he started towards the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. Kaede silently cursed his foolhardiness as she stood up and chased after her hotheaded friend. “Knew you wouldn’t stay cooped up in there forever! How’s it hangin’?” The purple-haired teen greeted enthusiastically. The contrast between himself and the sullen Mondo would have been humorous if it didn’t spell out disaster.

“Fine. Now fuck off.” Mondo groused with a glare as he tersely poured himself some soup. Kaito put a hand on his hip.

“Doesn’t sound like it to me. In fact, I think you could use someone right about now. Luckily, I’ve got some sidekick positions open! How about it?” Kaito offered, flashing a wide grin and a thumbs up. Mondo glowered at him.

“A fuckin’ sidekick? Like a comic book or some shit?” Mondo questioned, his snakish eyes narrowing before a sneer came over his features. “Seriously? Get out of my face. Not in the mood for this bullshit.”

“What? Why not? Being a sidekick is great, especially with a legendary hero like me! Think about it! Daring adventures, legendary bad guys, conquering the very stars themselves! You can’t tell me that doesn’t sound awesome!” Kaito argued, slamming his fists together dramatically.

“Already said I ain’t fuckin’ interested! Piss off already, you delusional fuckin’ idiot!” Owada snarled, his grip around the bowl in his hands tightening. Kaito visibly flinched for a second before throwing a fist out to the side.

“Don’t call me an idiot! You know what’s actually stupid?! Hiding away like a coward all the time!” Kaito shouted back challengingly. Mondo went from annoyed to infuriated in an instant.

“The FUCK did you just say?!” The biker demanded, getting up in Kaito’s face with teeth bared just as Kaede got to Momota’s side.

“Kaito, go sit down. Now.” Kaede ordered firmly, pulling on his shoulder roughly.

“No! We’re gonna settle this, man to-”

_ “Oh, screw this!” _ The pianist huffed in her mind as she shoved past Kaito and pushed him away. “Now, Kaito! Don’t make things worse!” Akamatsu demanded, losing her patience with Kaito’s macho nonsense. Her pink eyes bore into him, the astronaut unflinchingly meeting her glare. He didn’t move away, but after a few moments of having his mouth open with a retort waiting on the tip of his tongue, Momota slowly let it shut, glowering at the pair silently. Once it became crystal clear Kaito wasn’t going anywhere, Kaede sighed, turning to face Mondo again. “Sorry, Mondo. This wasn’t my idea.”

The orange-haired man grunted. “What-the-fuck-ever. Just leave me be…”

Kaede’s lips twitched. “I get that you want to be alone, and that’s okay for now. But you should think about Kaito’s offer, okay? We’re both here for you whenever you’re ready. I think we could be really good friends!” She said, clasping her hands in front of her with a beam. Mondo scowled.

“Are you two deaf or somethin’?” Mondo demanded, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. “Stop botherin’ me already, for fucks sake!”

Akamatsu’s patience was wearing down, her sympathy for Mondo’s plight nearly exceeded by her frustration with his refusal to listen. “I will in a minute! I’m just asking you to keep it in mind. You can’t be alone forever, and you don’t have to be, because we’re here. Don’t just throw it away over some pride. Don’t you want someone to be there for you?” The pianist urged, pleading both with her voice and eyes as she tried to convince Mondo. She’d apparently struck a nerve, as his expression continued to darken more and more with each word until she finished. After a few moments of staring at her with a hard, heated gaze, a low growl rumbled out of the biker’s throat as he turned away from her and started marching away. That rejection stung as if he’d slapped her in the face, the pianist cringing at the pain. Without thinking, Kaede reached out and grabbed the biker by the arm. “Mondo wait-”

“** _ARE YOU FUCKIN' DENSE, OR DO YA HAVE A GODDAMN DEATHWISH?! JUST FUCK OFF ALREADY BEFORE SOMETHIN' HAPPENS, ALRIGHT?!_ ** ” Owada roared as he spun on his heels to face her, his features contorted in fury as he screamed at the girl. Terror shot up Kaede’s spine in an instant, yanking her arm back and taking several steps away from him in pure shock, her eyes wide and hairs on end. A cold puddle of dread bubbled uneasily within her at the sight of Mondo’s infuriated sneer and pulsating veins making it _ very _ clear that he was likely even more upset than he let his words express. Just as quickly as she regained the ability to _ consciously _be scared by the display, Kaito rared up next to her, rolling up a sleeve and forcing himself in between the two.

"_ HEY! _Just who the hell do you think you are, talking to one of my sidekicks like that?! Especially saying that kinda crap to a girl! Pick on someone your own size, or I'll do it for you!" The astronaut growled as he fearlessly -or incredibly stupidly- got up in the pissed off biker's face. 

A burst of even more anger flashed across Mondo's features as he raised a fist. "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE! I WASN'T PICKIN' ON A FUCKIN' CHICK! I-!" His shouts died as he finally seemed to notice just how scared Kaede must have looked at that moment, surprise and intense guilt replacing his fury moments later. “H-hey, stop shakin’ like that! I didn’t-” He took a step towards her, only for the pianist to subconsciously take two steps back.

“Mondo… if you cause her any harm, you will be granted no mercy…” Sakura warned, rising from her seat with a dark glare.

"HEY! I wasn’t gonna- I just-! I… fuck! FUCK! SHIT! SORRY! I'M JUS- _ FUUUUUCK! _" Mondo howled out, his voice somehow managing to become more and more guilt ridden even as he started to shout, panic on his face before he snapped, screaming out and hurling his bowl against the wall in a fit of rage as he bolted for the exit. Kaede could only watch it unfold before her, completely frozen by fear and surprise even as several moments passed after the doors slammed shut behind the gangster.

Kaito turned to her, an incredulous glower still remaining on his face. "You alright, Kaede?"

She forced herself to give a tiny nod as she found her voice again. "F-fine. I'm fine. Just a little shaken up…"

A touch of relief softened his features slightly. "Good. That asshole had some nerve… I can't stand for this! I'm gonna go talk with him!" The astronaut declared, turning away from her again and taking a couple strides towards the door. Kaede's eyes went wide.

"What?! No, you're not!" She ordered as she grabbed him by his coat to meet his eyes again. He opened his mouth, some stupidly heroic nonsense no-doubt on the tip of his tongue, but she refused. “At best, he just swears at you again and locks himself in his room. At worst... _ you know _. Just let it go, Kaito.”

Kaito scowled. “So what, just let him run around throwing temper tantrums because he might kill someone if we don’t? Bullshit! He’s more likely to hurt someone being an angry idiot than if we take it to him now before it becomes a problem!”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Kaito! I never said we wouldn’t handle it; I’m saying we do it when he might be willing to listen instead of just making him madder!” Kaede shot back in annoyance.

“Why the hell aren’t you as angry about this as I am?! He just threatened you, Kaede! You should be livid right now!”

“Don’t tell me how I should or shouldn’t feel about something! I _ am _ upset, I’m just not being an idiot about it! I don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt over some stupid pride!”

“Anger makes people reckless. Unpredictable. To be blunt, stupid,” Peko butted in, sheathing her sword before Kaede even realized the girl had drawn it. Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, she continued. “You’re correct about that much, Kaito. However, I also know from experience how people like him are. No matter how good they might be at their core, they’re capable of terrible violence when provoked. For everyone’s safety, listen to your friend and wait for him to calm down.”

Sakura bowed her head low. “... I agree. Even I would be wary of confronting Mondo while he is like this. Trying to talk to him now would be a foolish mistake… and quite possibly a fatal one.”

Momota lips twisted angrily before he growled in frustration. Ultimately, he huffed, balling his fists but no longer pulling against Kaede’s grasp. “... Fine. But the next time I see him, we’re having that talk.”

Kaede held firm. “If there’s other people around and he’s not already screaming, fine. But don’t go out of your way to get hurt.”

After a few tense moments of silence, the hall slowly started filling with the idle chatter of the former blackened once again. Kirumi wordlessly retrieved a broom from somewhere in the kitchen and began sweeping up the shattered remains of Mondo’s bowl, politely refusing Kaede’s offer to help with the mess. It wasn’t long before Kaede and Kaito rejoined the others at their table, finding Chiaki trying to talk to a rather shaken Mikan. Once the nurse had been sufficiently calmed down, the rest of the evening went along pretty peacefully. Between everyone chatting and the pace at which Teruteru and Kirumi brought out the dishes, it was about nine o’clock before most of the students started leaving, whether they be going to bed like Chiaki and Gonta or simply going about their own business like Celeste and a somewhat still irritable Leon. The Ultimates dwindled down until less than a handful remained, even her and Kaito eventually heading out for the second round of their training (Korekiyo thankfully didn’t seem too disappointed at Kaito’s refusal to let him watch). Monokuma thankfully didn’t show up to ruin it this time, but that didn’t keep Kaede’s thoughts from wandering.

As successful as it had been for her, the questions raised that day were troublesome to say the least. Sakura and Mondo’s pasts, Chiaki’s weird suspicion of Mikan, whatever was up with the boiler room, how any of this was possible at all… the mysteries kept seeming to pile on top of each other, even quicker than they did at the academy. She’d managed to set up some strong bonds among the group… exactly like she’d done immediately before Monokuma unveiled the time limit. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if the first motive dropped soon, but that only raised more questions that she couldn’t possibly answer yet. It was frustrating, having so much to figure out with no way of solving it, but there wasn’t much she could do other than try her best to plan around the uncertainties littering the path forward.

But, she reminded herself as Kaito cockily declared victory over her in some undeclared pushups competition, she could deal with that bridge when she came to it. For now, she could focus on making Momota eat his words. Kaede earned that much after all she’d done since that morning.

Not bad, for her first day of not being dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God it's nice to write Mondo again. Haven't gotten to do so in like 50k words until now! Anyhoo, reminder that the next chapter is available RIGHT NOW! If you're so inclined, though, you might want to leave your first comment on this one. The next chapter's quite a ride. In fact. I'd say it's positively *killer*.  
-MrCynical


	8. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Deadly Life Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma drops the first motive, Celeste hosts a poker match, and Kaede tries an old pastime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the two part update! This particular chapter holds a few of the scenes we've been planning on since we first came up with this whole thing. Hope they pay off as much for you as they did for us!
> 
> Might want to grab a snack, though. This is a biggy.  
-Mr Cynical

** _Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bing Bong Bing Bong!_ **

Kaede woke up with a groan of annoyance, blocking the TV's glaring blue light with her hand before she even fully remembered what was happening. Her body still ached from the previous night’s workout _ and _ the one before that, combining to make the sudden disturbance of her relatively peaceful sleep all the more aggravating. The drowsy pianist grabbed a pillow and used it to cover her ears as Monokuma’s grating voice began to blare out of the speakers. “ _ Attention! This is your captain speaking, with an important announcement! I regret to inform you all that something terrible has happened! _”

The moment those words reached Kaede’s ears, all traces of sleepiness or annoyance evaporated, replaced by cold dread pooling in her stomach. “Wh-what?!” She sputtered out, bolting upright in an instant and wincing at the harsh light of the TV. Kaede frantically blinked until she could clearly see the somewhat distressed looking Monokuma on the screen. Fear trickled up her spine, her breath caught in her throat as she anxiously waited for whatever bombshell the bear was preparing to drop. _ “No, no, no way. There’s no way someone would have resorted to killing _ ** _already_ ** _ , is there? There couldn’t be… I refuse to accept-” _

“_ I’m very sorry to say… everyone is still alive! _”

Never before in Kaede’s life had fear so quickly changed into relief and then again into pure smoldering rage. “... Are you _**serious**_?!” She spat out, her voice rising in volume with each syllable until she was yelling at the television, her hands balling into fists out of sheer indignation. How _ dare _ he give her a heart attack like that just to complain about a _ good _thing?! 

The black and white bastard on screen glared at the camera, throwing his arms in the air. “_ Even worse than that, it seems some of you are even making _ ** _friends _ ** _ with each other! Seriously, guys?! What gives?! Do you know how many people would kill just for the opportunity of getting a second shot like this, and yet here you guys are twiddling your thumbs and chatting over breakfast like some psychotic remake of an 80s comedy?! Come ON! You’re all murderers, so it’s not like you even have to worry about killing a decent person if you still think you’re so high and mighty that you wouldn’t hurt an innocent! _” Monokuma ranted, his face reddening in rage. Kaede wasn’t sure how exactly a robot could get angry enough to blush, but robophobic as Keebo might call her for it, she couldn’t really give a damn about that compared to the bitter satisfaction she felt at the bear’s obvious frustration.

After a moment, Monokuma huffed, lazily falling back in his captain’s chair. "_ Urg. You'd think a ship full of convicted killers would get a lot more interesting a lot sooner, but I just had to go and pick the most namby-pamby bunch of murderous psychos on the planet by total accident! _ " He continued to whine, ending with a sigh. " _ ... But then I realized something. You guys only know what each of you are willing to admit about yourselves! Sure, you all know you're killers, but what about the juicy details? The betrayed friendships, the poor frightened victims, the devious plots and heart pounding trials! I don't know about you, but I know I wouldn't want to be buddies with someone that's stabbed their friends in the back before! It's really unfair of you guys to not be honest about this sort of thing, you know! But don't worry, Captain Monokuma is nothing if not a considerate host! I've taken the time to make a little documentary about each student aboard the Despair of the Seas, covering everything from your bright and hopeful childhoods to your oh-so despairful ends! From the visionary director behind The Wizard of Monomi 2.5D comes… Ultimate Crimes: True Tales of the Killing Game! _"

Akamatsu narrowed her eyes at the TV, slight confusion mixing with suspicion and a lingering sense of unease. _ "... The first motive is just going to be videos of our murders? That's… well, horrible, but why would that make us kill anyone? Does he really think people will get that paranoid?" _ The pianist pondered cautiously. Then again, it might have seemed like a relatively minor reason to kill someone, but it was still one of Monokuma's motives, and he'd already proven he wasn't above tossing in additional incentives if it sped the game along. She couldn't afford to take it lightly just because it didn't seem immediately dangerous.

Monokuma grinned devilishly. "_ As interesting as it would be to do it all in one go, I think it would be even more fun if it was spaced out a little! As such, every four hours, four students will receive a random episode detailing another person's murder! How does that work, you might ask? Well, with the nifty difty internet here on the ship, I can simply send the videos directly to your monopads… _" He pulled out a monopad of his own and tapped the screen, an electronic chirp sounding off immediately after. 

"_ Like so! Now, four lucky students can watch a different episode of Ultimate Crimes whenever they please! Wow, how quick and efficient! Back in my day, I had to burn these things down on DVDs! The wonders of modern technology… puhuhuhu! But enough about a silly old bear like me. Discover the truths your so-called friends don't want you to know, and decide: do these sound like the kind of people worthy of your trust? _"

With that, the screen flicked off, leaving Kaede staring worriedly at her own reflection in the dark glass. So, that was Monokuma’s game? Try to break their bonds by spreading some stupid videos around? That wasn’t exactly something she could _ contain _, especially not if people were getting it at random times, but it was a far cry from the First Blood Perk or the time limit, at least. She could work around it if she was smart about things. “Okay… step one of getting around this is checking in with the others and finding out who has whose videos and whether they’ve watched them or not. Easy enough…” Kaede said to herself as if to confirm her own plans. After getting ready for the day, she left her room and checked her map to see who was already out and about. Kirumi and Teruteru were already in the kitchen as expected, and most of the students willing to leave their rooms had gone into the dining hall already. Even Kaito and Chiaki had bothered getting up early enough to show up at a reasonable time. Practically everyone was there already, in fact. Well, except Mikan, who seemed to be… right next to her?

Kaede looked up from the small tablet, glancing to her left to find nothing. She looked over to her right… and shrieked in sheer surprise at the quietly staring nurse a few feet away from her. Mikan herself freaked out at Kaede’s burst of fear as if the pianist had been the one to sneak up on her. Akamatsu all but leapt out of her skin, clutching her chest with a gasp as her heart threatened to beat right out of her ribcage. “M-Mikan?! G-geez! Don’t scare me like that!” She snapped on instinct, glaring harshly at the other girl in annoyance before it occurred to her that she just shouted at _ Mikan _of all people. Before she could even fully process the regret, the Ultimate Nurse had already burst into tears, cowering behind her hands.

“AWAAAH! I’M SORRY! I-I didn’t mean to sc-scare you like that! I promise! I’ll take my clothes off if that helps! Just please don’t hate me!” Tsumiki wailed pitifully, red in the face as tears rushed down her cheeks. The sight made Kaede feel like she’d just kicked a puppy on its birthday.

“Wh- n-no, it’s okay! Keep your clothes on!” She desperately sputtered out, staring wide-eyed at her fragile new friend. She took a steadying breath to ease her still rampant heart, shaking her head. “I should be the one apologizing. Sorry I yelled at you. You just… _ really _scared me, that’s all. But it’s okay now! Just, um, let me know you’re there next time, okay?”

Mikan looked at least a little less miserable at that, much to Kaede’s relief. “I-I will. I’m sorry. I w-wanted to say hello, but you looked busy and I didn’t want to interrupt you, a-and I'm a little scared because of those videos Monokuma was talking about, b-but that's no excuse! I’m sorry! I totally get it if you don’t want to talk, or go to breakfast with me, or even see me again, or-”

Sensing an opportunity to take control of the conversation and steer it away from Mikan’s self-depreciating reassurances, Kaede offered her a bright grin, clasping her hands together. “Breakfast together sounds really nice to me. I’d love to join you, if that’s still alright,” She agreed sweetly, smiling wider at Mikan’s surprised, if delighted, expression. Giving a wink, she added, “My treat. You can pay for the next one.”

Mikan lit up, only to gain a worried look again almost instantly. “Um… I’m really sorry, but I don’t have any money. I don’t know if I-” She stopped suddenly as Kaede giggled, shifting from perplexed to guilty to perplexed yet again as Kaede held up a hand to keep her from continuing.

“I’m joking, Mikan. The food’s free. You don’t owe me anything. I’d like to say something to the others when we go in, though.”

After a moment, the tension finally left Mikan’s shoulders, expelling itself with a light laugh from the lavender-haired girl. “Oh… r-right. Eheh… um… then, um, thank you anyway! Whenever you’d like to is alright with me! N-not that I’m trying to rush you or anything like that!”

Without much further ado, Kaede and Mikan made their way to the dining hall. The mood inside wasn’t somber, precisely, but it was certainly a little more reserved than dinner the night prior, and it wasn’t simply on account of the lower number of people in the room already. Gundham and Kiyo didn’t seem phased in the slightest, but a hint of worry infected Gonta’s usually joyful expression as he slowly pet Cham-P at the trio’s usual table. Peko’s glare was more scrutinizing than usual, her posture stiff and rigid as she surveyed the others from her isolated perch. Sakura stood in the other corner of the room, arms crossed and expression unreadable. Hifumi and Leon were openly nervous, the latter propping his chair away from the others in such a way as to almost mirror Peko’s stance whilst the first gnawed on his fingers next to Celeste as she quietly sipped her tea. Tsumugi awkwardly sat at the same table, inched away from the other two as much as she could manage without falling out of her seat. Lastly, Kaito was leaning back in his chair, face twisted in a sneer with his arms crossed whilst Chiaki tried to focus on a game, though the frown on her face and distracted look in her eye made it clear she wasn’t taking the motive in stride.

Well, the faster she got this over with, the faster they could start planning how they’d overcome this motive. Clearing her throat, Kaede addressed her fellow killers. “Good morning, everyone. Can I have your attention for a minute?” 

The hall practically turned to her in unison, twelve sets of eyes on her all at once. As soon as they noticed her arrival, Korekiyo and Celeste’s gaze carried… intrigue, oddly enough. Maybe one of them had gotten Kaede’s tape, or they were just interested how she’d handle the situation? If that was the case, they’d get what they wanted soon enough. Kaito suddenly set a foot on the table with a loud stomp, the plates and silverware clattering at the sudden impact. “Alright! Shut up and listen, guys!”

“But no one was even talking…” Tsumugi countered dryly. The Ultimate Cosplayer promptly went ignored.

“Um… thanks, Kaito. First, can someone get Kirumi and Teruteru, please? I think it’d be best if everyone was here for this,” She requested. Gonta volunteered, putting down the hamster nearly as big as his hand and quickly disappearing into the kitchen before reappearing with the Ultimate Chef and Maid. Teruteru was probably even more unsettled than Hifumi, beads of sweat rolling down his face despite the cocky smile he plastered on, relentlessly pulling at his hair with his comb. Kirumi, by contrast, seemed more apprehensive than actively distressed; almost lost in thought. With nearly the entire ship present, Kaede continued. “Thanks, Gonta, and hi guys. Now… I think it’s pretty obvious what I want to talk about, so let’s get to the point. Who here has received a motive video?”

Chiaki raised a hand, Kirumi doing the same shortly after… while everyone else remained silent and still. Kaede glanced at Mikan just in case, but the nurse simply shook her head, a tinge of worry in her eyes. After a few more moments of no one fessing up, Akamatsu thinned her lips. “... Okay then. It’s fine if you don’t want to admit it in front of everyone. But… I’d really appreciate it if you talked to me about it in private. Whether you do that or not though, if you haven’t watched them already, don’t. I don’t know what happened before we met or why, but I’m sure whatever Monokuma says happened is missing a lot of context if he’s not just flat-out lying. We can’t trust whatever he says about anyone. So, if you have… don’t leap to conclusions. If it’s really bothering you, tell me, and we can talk about it with whoever was in the tape you watched.”

Leon narrowed his eyes. “Hold on, you’re saying we should just _ ignore _ it? Screw that! Why shouldn’t I know as much about you guys as I can?! Hell, we should _ all _watch them!” The wannabe punk angrily demanded with a glare. Kaito, naturally, wasn’t having any of that.

“Why _ would _you want to know crap like that?! What’s it matter why we’re here? Use your head, man!”

“To see who here is most likely to kill again, I would imagine. Personally, I also wish to see as many of these tapes as possible. Given the company I find myself in, they’re bound to be fascinating…” Korekiyo hummed, smirking beneath his mask.

Peko narrowed her eyes. “Is possibly sparking another senseless killing worth your entertainment? I have nothing to hide. That doesn’t mean I should be forced to talk about it for some imagined benefit of yours.”

“Hey, wait-” Kaede tried to butt in, only to be promptly cut off.

“Um, but what if one of us is secretly some kind of incredibly evil and powerful villain and no one knows, but it’s on one of the videos? Wouldn’t that be pretty important to find out?” Tsumugi questioned worriedly, putting a palm to her cheek with her right hand and cupping her elbow in the other. 

Gundham let out a loud harumph. “Fool! I’ve made no secret of my true nature. If you’ve failed to take heed, that is your own folly!”

Kirumi stepped forward. “While I doubt that is the case, Miss Shirogane, that does raise the question about our forgotten motives. Is it possible these videos could at least hint at why some of us committed murder?” The maid suggested, a quiet, reluctant hope in her gaze.

“Um… I-I’m not sure I want to know… b-but I have to! It’s the only way I can get any closure for why I hurt Ib… Ib…” The nurse slowly trailed off, tears prickling in her eyes.

“But that might not be a good thing, either… knowing why we committed our crimes the first time could make one of us kill again.” Sakura rumbled back, making the room fall silent for a brief moment. Sensing her limited window, Akamatsu leaped at the first break in the stream of voices in the sudden swarm of chaos Leon had inadvertently wrought, forcefully reasserting herself in the conversation. 

“Guys! Hold on a second! Arguing about this isn’t getting us anywhere! We should-”

“Hang on, who the hell put you in charge in the first place?! I don’t remember a vote!” Leon shouted accusingly, glaring at her harshly. Kaede’s eyes widened, taken aback by the sudden challenge.

“There was vote?” Gonta innocently questioned with a tilt of his head. At the same moment, Kaito slammed a fist on the table.

“We did, because she’s good for the job! I don’t see you volunteer-”

Kaede scowled, the last of her patience snapping like a twig. “GUYS! SHUT UP! We can sort out who is or isn’t in charge later!” She scolded frustratedly, crossing her arms at the two hotheads. The red-haired rocker glowered at her, but didn’t immediately retort, letting the room fall into silence. Kaede sighed. “Thank you… look. It’s clear we’re not agreeing here. I get that you guys are scared. I am too! But we shouldn’t just blindly believe whatever’s in those videos, either! We can’t trust Monokuma! If we’re really dead set on finding out about each others murders, then…” Kaede hesitated a moment, uncertain if she should cross this point of no return. This was the exact _ opposite _of how she wanted this to go. She hated that it had come to this, but unifying everyone against Monokuma and his motives was the most important thing she could do. If so many people wanted to know their motives, then she couldn’t just ignore that, as much as she’d rather let the motive pass in silence. There was only one way she could possibly compromise between the two diametrically opposed positions. Sucking in a breath, she forced out, “... We should just admit it ourselves. That way, at least we know we’re not just getting twisted against each other.”

Leon’s blustering stopped, a rare look of consideration overtaking the baseball star’s expression. The rest of the room generally looked either stunned, supportive, or annoyed.  
Hifumi nervously put a finger to his chin. “But… can we really expect people here to be any more honest about their crimes than Monokuma? I don’t think anyone would just admit how they committed something like murder to a bunch of strangers. You usually have to be around for at least half a season before that kind of plot twist gets revealed...” The portly boy murmured, his brow creased in worry.

“Indeed. I wouldn’t be honest about my murder even if I could remember it. It would simply be more convenient to lie. I’m certain I’m not the only one who thinks this. Frankly, as much as he twists the truth, I’ve never known Monokuma to outright lie. These videos are likely the most truthful account of each of our murders we could possibly receive.” Celeste hummed, flicking her hair.

“You’d have to be an idiot to believe anything he says! Come on, it’s obvious what he’s trying to do with this!” Kaito roared, his features warping in frustration.

Kaede cringed. “Well… people that survived past someone else’s trial would know if they were lying-”

“But nearly half of our killings are a mystery even to the culprits themselves, let alone anyone else. There would be incredibly large gaps between stories... not to mention that the final killer of each game would have no one to corroborate their story anyway. We already established Kaito could not recall my motive either, despite surviving my trial. We have no truly reliable sources, I’m afraid…” Shinguji’s voice practically slithered through the air, something dangerously close to amusement in the anthropologist’s voice. The pianist winced as yet another one of her argumentative legs was swept out from under her.

“I… well… then the ones that do remember can say why they did it...”

“Uh… Gonta not entirely understand Gonta’s motive, but Gonta agree with Kaede!” The entomologist offered positively, earning a grateful smile from the struggling leader.

“I don’t know about sharing motives… but if you think this is the right call, Kaede, I’ve got your back!” Kaito agreed passionately, pumping a fist.

“Yep, me too.” Chiaki offered simply.

Peko glowered darkly at them. “I’ve made myself clear. Do what you want, but expecting me to support this is pointless.” The swordswoman warned, murmurs of agreement filling the room as a few suspicious and doubtful gazes further challenged Kaede’s credibility. The pianist hated just how quickly this situation was slipping between her fingers.

“... Fine. I can’t really force you if you don’t want to. But I really do think this is the best thing we can do! That’s why…” She paused, waiting on the threshold of the point of no return. If the words waiting on the tip of her tongue left her mouth, there was no walking them back. It was a terrifying idea, but it was the only thing she could think of that could reunify the group. If all went right, she’d be able to cause a chain reaction that would leave everyone on more or less the same level. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was the second best way it could go.

All it required was admitting how much of a monster she was. 

“... That’s why I’ll go first,” Kaede announced, damning any chance she had of ever being seen as anything but a murderer. She sucked in a breath, curling her hands into fists. “I… I killed Rantaro Amami because-”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” Monokuma screeched, leaping out of thin air in front of Kaede with claws bared, making the pianist jump in surprise and Mikan wail out in terror. Monokuma glowered at her. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!”

After the initial burst of fear, Kaede took a daring step forward, shoving a finger in the bear’s face. “Outsmarting your stupid motive! Now shut up and leave us alone!”

“You’re very lucky that being rude to your captain isn’t against the rules, or you would be a pink and red smear on the floor by now,” Monokuma growled, his red eye glowing warningly. After a moment, it was like a switch flipped, his homicidal anger suddenly shifting back into his typical game show host positivity. “Buuuut, speaking of breaking the rules, that’s exactly what you almost just did!”

Kaede’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about-” She tried to ask, only to get cut off by the simultaneous _ bing _of fifteen monopads. The gathered students pulled out their monopads after a momentary pause to discover a new addition to the Cruise Regulations.

**Temporary Regulation: Until the first murder is committed, students cannot confess their original motives.**

Kaede read the line again and again, her scowl deepening each time until she forced her gaze upward and her furious eyes bored into the black and white bear. “Seriously? You have to cheat just to stop us?”

If she hadn’t hit a nerve before, she certainly had now. “I do not cheat! I might not mention every detail, but I follow my rules to the letter! Just because I make new rules to protect the game doesn’t mean I’m cheating! If you don’t like it, file a complaint with the studio! Now, YOU shut up and let me explain the new rule!” Monokuma roared. Kaede decided not to press her luck too much, settling for smirking in the enraged bear’s face. Taking a moment to compose himself, Monokuma huffed before shaking his head. “Let’s say I’m some high and mighty, self-righteous teenage murderer, and I feel so bad about brutally killing an innocent person that I just have to shout it out to the world. Ahem… woe is me! I, Monokuma, am a foul murderer! I killed Junko Enoshima because she stomped on my-”

In less than a second, Monokuma was impaled by at least half a dozen spears, the screech of tearing metal piercing their ears as they witnessed his robotic form sparking and twitching around the long sharpened spikes rammed through his body like a shish kebab. His arms and legs flailed pathetically for a few moments before falling limp, his red eye slowly fading to nothingness. Not a soul dared to speak up, every blackened stunned into silence by the apparent death of their tormentor. Shockingly, Teruteru seemed to be the first to recover, swallowing thickly as he took a cautious step towards the scrapheap. “Is… is he really…?”

As she watched Monokuma drop from the ceiling behind the Ultimate Chef, she wished she could have been quick enough to warn him. “MMMNOPE! Alive and kickin’! BWAHAHAHAHA!” Monokuma cackled as Teruteru’s face burst into fear, the chef taken by surprise so much that he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground, screaming and frantically scurrying away from the grinning bear. The monochrome robot proudly patted his stomach. “As you can see, trying to be nice is a big no-no. You guys can try it if you really want, but unlike me, you can’t come back. I’m _ bear _ -y special like that! Let’s see, was there anything else I meant to say…? Oh, right!” He suddenly stiffened, his painted on grin seeming to grow even larger as he held up a single claw. “I should probably mention that one _ and only one _ of these motive videos are **faked** . The killer’s real crime is a secret, and anyone here that would remember it being different has **had their memories altered **to fit with it. Good luck guessing who among you is a great big liar! Anyhoo, I’ve gotta go plan my own funeral now. Later!”

With that, he sunk through the floor, leaving the students to their own devices. Once the group’s stunned silence wore off, Chiaki spoke up. “... Monokuma seems pretty desperate. I think we scared him just now. That’s good… it means we’re on the right track. It’s pretty obvious what we should do from here…”

“Um… is it? It seemed like we were more or less okay with finding out at least a few of the motives, so now if we can’t come out and say them, doesn’t that mean we have to watch the videos?” Tsumugi weakly argued, a nervous, slightly bluish tint to her skin. Kaito scowled at her.

“Are you kidding me? He just admitted he faked the videos! Those things are even more untrustworthy now!”

Korekiyo laughed lightly, holding up a finger. “Keheheh… a correction, Kaito: he admitted _ one _video was fake. That implies the others are all genuine. Intriguing, isn’t it? I wonder which cast of our killing games has had their memories falsified… or if we could deduce whose killing is different than we recall. Monokuma has created a fascinating dilemma…”

“But it’s obvious Monokuma wants us to turn against each other figuring it out. Whether someone’s video is fake or not doesn’t matter. He still won’t give us the full truth so it’s easier to be suspicious of each other… I think.” Chiaki softly countered with a frown.

“So it’s better to let our imaginations run wild with speculation? That is likely more dangerous than simply watching the videos.” Celeste hummed. Momota simply couldn’t help himself.

“Bullshit! We should-”

If she didn’t speak up now, Kaede was sure it would end up devolving into another massive argument. “Guys! This is going nowhere!” The pianist interrupted, throwing a hand to the side for emphasis. Once everyone’s eyes were on her again, she continued. “We’re arguing in circles. I doubt anyone’s going to change their minds, so let’s just settle it here and now. The most fair thing we could do is take a vote.”

The room paused at her words, a silence of consideration taking over. Kirumi put a gloved finger to her chin as she spoke. “That would make the majority opinion clear. Whichever side has the most votes sets the policy for the motive videos going forward… I agree. This is the best course of action.”

“Hold on, what about Mondo? He’s not here.” Kaito pointed out.

“What of him? If he refuses to join everyone else for group meetings, he has no say in how the group functions. Why waste time trying to get the opinion of someone unwilling to contribute? We should continue without him.” Ludernberg dismissed somewhat callously. A general hum of agreement rang from the gathered students. If she was being honest, a part of Kaede agreed, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was doing something wrong by doing this without him. Regardless, if he refused to join them, there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Kaede took a breath. “Okay then. We’ll make this simple. Raise your hand if you think we shouldn’t watch the videos,” The blonde instructed, raising her hand. Chiaki, Kaito, Gonta, Hifumi, and Sakura followed suit almost instantly. Kaede waited a few moments in case anyone was hesitating to vote, trying to ignore the creeping dread settling over her when it became clear that no one else was going to join. She swallowed to keep from grimacing. “... Now, raise your hand if you think we should watch them.”

It was no surprise when Korekiyo, Leon and Celeste raised their hands almost in unison, nor was it when Tsumugi and Teruteru shyly joined them. Kirumi at least looked apologetic to publicly side against Kaede, though her hand didn’t waver for a second. Peko and Gundham simply sat with their arms crossed, apparently abstaining. That made six, so they were tied-

“U-um… I-I’m sorry, b-but… sorry…” Mikan whimpered, looking at the floor with tearful eyes as she raised a trembling hand. Kaede blinked. Damn it, how could she have forgotten Mikan?! The nurse was right next to her, yet she’d completely slipped Kaede’s mind! The surprised disappointment must have shown on her face as Mikan dared to glance up for a second and flinched violently at Kaede’s expression. “S-sorry! Don’t hate me! I-I change my mind!” She suddenly squeaked, ripping her arm down like she’d been burned.

Akamatsu winced, sighing and shaking her head. “I don’t hate you, Mikan, and I promise I won’t just because you vote how you want. Put your hand back up.” She softly instructed. Tsumiki swallowed thickly, hesitating for a moment before raising her hand once again. 

Celeste let out an approving hum. “Seven to six. It seems we are decided, then. Excellent. Kirumi, would you be so kind as to bring me some tea, please?”

“Hang on! How the hell can you be so cavalier about this?!” Momota demanded just as the maid started moving to fulfil the request, glaring daggers into the gambler. She simply flicked at her hair in response.

“Because it’s settled. Kaede took a gamble and lost. That’s all there is to it. Please, lower your voice. It’s irritating enough at normal volume.”

“Enough, Kaito. If that’s what everyone wants to do, we couldn’t really stop anyone anyway,” Kaede defeatedly admitted. Her arms crossed once again, but the gesture was born more of self-consciousness than her authoritative confidence from earlier. That was… humiliating, to say the least. At least there had been the excuse of basically everyone being emotional messes when they regained their memories two days prior. Here, they were in their right minds and _ consciousnessly _rejected her. That stung the ahoged woman considerably. It was a close vote, but that was a cold comfort compared to the fact that she’d just failed her first real test of leadership on the ship. For every respite like the anime party, there seemed to be three Death Roads of Despair. Clicking her tongue, Kaede quietly added, “Well… is there anything else we should talk about before we split up?”

Leon held up a hand. “Yeah, actually. While we’re voting on shit, I think we should decide on a leader. Make it official or whatever, y’know?” The baseball star argued.

“So, you seek to usurp the Siren’s High Priestess? Tell me, to what end, oh Phoenix of the Fiery Diamond?” Gundham queried, studying the redhead curiously. Leon’s brow furrowed.

“Uh… what?”

“He’s asking why you want to replace Kaede with someone, presumably yourself. While I’ve already made my decision on the matter, I’m curious to hear your reasoning.” Kiyo helpfully translated. Kuwata’s eyes widened a little.

“H-huh? No way! I don’t want to be in charge! Just- look, she just kind of became the leader without asking anyone, and that seems screwed up to me!”

Kaito pumped a fist. “Alright then, let’s ask! If you’re okay with Kaede being in charge, raise a hand!” He ordered. To Akamatsu’s great surprise, every hand in the room but Leon’s and her own went up.

“Huh?” Was all she could manage, staring dumbfounded at the group of blackened suddenly backing her. Possibly the only one more surprised than her was Leon, whose reaction mirrored her own.

“Wait, seriously? What the hell, was there actually a vote I wasn’t around for?!” He sputtered.

Gokuhara put his spare hand to his chin. “Gonta not invited to first vote either… but that okay! Gonta glad to vote Kaede this time!”

“She’s a reasonable choice. Someone willing to not only rally people around them, but also listen to those under their command makes for a strong leader. Unless she proves incompetent, there’s no reason for me not to tolerate her leadership.” Peko summed up.

“Agreed. I doubt there is anyone else here willing to take such a position anyway.” Ludenberg added.

Gundham hummed. “Her experience bending mortals to her will makes her a formidable opponent… one that could be better utilized as an ally. The Dark Lord of the Tanaka Empire is willing to pledge his allegiance… for now.”

“S-she’s my friend, and believes in me… so, um, I believe in her too!” Mikan endorsed.

The testimonies, both glowing recommendations and curt acknowledgements of convenience, kept adding on top of each other. Kaede couldn’t help the somewhat sheepish smile that grew. She definitely hadn’t been expecting _ that _after getting so thoroughly rejected in the first vote… and apparently neither was Leon. The redhead seemed to squirm under the room’s gaze, tucking his arms into each other with a pout before ultimately letting out an aggravated groan and raising his hand as well. “Urgh… fine. Thanks for making me look like an asshole, guys…”

Celeste smiled at him with that mockingly bright grin that always proceeded an insult of some sort. “We didn’t have to try very hard. Now then, if we’re done debating… I’m feeling somewhat peckish. Shall we eat?”

Kirumi bowed her head. “Yes, I believe a meal is in order. Do you feel comfortable preparing one, Mister Hanamura, or would you prefer if I did so?” She asked the still unsettled chef. He blinked, apparently pulled out of his thoughts by the question, before breaking into a clearly nervous grin.

“Er… y-yeah! I can keep it up all day and night, especially for a pretty thing like you!” Hanamura forced a chuckle before all but running back to the kitchen, Kirumi following soon after. 

With their impromptu meeting adjourned, the Ultimates gradually went about their own business. The more confident ones struck up conversations with each other while others quietly sat by themselves, a murky fog of tension lingering over the room for the rest of the meal. It didn’t dissipate even after they finished and slowly branched off from each other, simply spreading over the rest of the ship like storm clouds consuming the sky. It was the same kind of cloud that hung over her soul that fateful day in the library when she realized how easy it would be to make a ramp out of all those stray books; a constant weight of suspicion and dread that only seemed to grow heavier over time. It was clear Kaede had already underestimated just how effective a motive those tapes would be with how many people were in favor of watching them. Even if the group still believed in her, there was the question of whether they would after more of those tapes released. Monokuma wouldn’t have to try very hard to paint her as a traitor, after all.

Those worries weighed on her mind as she returned to her room, waiting until the door locked behind her before pinching the bridge of her nose with a long, exhausted sigh. Monokuma’s ability to undo her efforts at every turn would almost be impressive if it wasn’t so infuriatingly horrible. Shaking her head, the pianist walked to the bed and laid on top of the covers. Most of the students were too cautious to hang out with anyone right now, and she needed to think anyway.

It’d been just over an hour since the motive dropped, and it had already set her progress back considerably. Two steps forward…

*** 

Nearly three hours later, Kaede was no closer to outwitting the black and white monster than she’d been in the dining hall, much to her frustration. She hated how easily the tables turned on her at nearly every turn, always waiting for her to carefully plan out her next step before throwing the board in the air and putting down a new game entirely. Despite that frustration, it was apparent that moping around her room wasn’t doing anything, and a quick glance at the clock proved it was almost time for Celeste’s proposed poker game anyway. 

Truthfully, Kaede didn’t know if she was still invited considering her spat with Celeste over tricking Gonta, or even if it was still happening at all with the motive videos upending everything, but it seemed prudent to at least check in. If it was canceled, she wasted maybe thirty minutes or so getting to the gambler’s lab and back. If it wasn’t, she got to hang out with some of her less easily intimidated friends for a while and at least partially undermine Monokuma’s twisted game. That was her thought process as she approached the entrance to the casino and knocked on the door, more out of politeness than actually requesting entrance as she let herself in a moment later.

To her surprise, she found a number of people already gathered around one of the poker tables. Celeste and Peko sat opposite of each other, the swordswoman only allowing her back to be visible to the wall as usual whilst Ludenberg was idly examining what she assumed was a poker chip. Slightly more unexpected were Kirumi and Korekiyo also at the table, the anthropologist seeming to be engaged in some sort of meditation. Kaede blinked before smiling at the pleasant surprise. Clearly the motive wasn’t enough to deter Celeste’s quest for entertainment, or those she invited along. She waved to the group as she called out, “Hey guys! Sorry if I’m late!”

Celeste turned, gaining a small smirk at the pianist’s arrival. “Ah, Kaede. No need to worry. Your arrival is right on time, in fact. It seems the same can’t be said for our final player, however. That is unfortunate, but I suppose we can simply deal her in if she arrives later,” The gambler noted idly. After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the others gathered at the table, Ludenberg launched into a fairly thorough if quick explanation of the rules of the game. It was decently understandable, even if it was apparent there was a lot more nuance to it that she didn’t know yet. When she finished, the red-eyed woman steepled her fingers. “... and those are the basics of Texas Hold ‘Em. Do you understand?”

Kaede hummed, raising a finger. “So, basically, the closer the numbers and kinds of cards are to each other, the better they are in a hand?” She summed up somewhat confidently. The Ultimate Gambler nodded.

“There is more to it than that, but essentially, yes. That should be sufficient for a beginner. Most of the game is built around reading people and predicting their actions and hands from their behavior, but this isn’t something that can be taught as much as it is simply learned through experience. I’m sure you’ll pick up on it as the game goes on,” Celeste explained surprisingly patiently.

The blonde nodded. “Right. In that case, I think I’m ready!”

Ludenberg gained the biggest smile Kaede had ever seen on the girl, though it was still infinitely more reserved than something like her own enthusiastic grins. “Excellent. If everyone else is prepared, I will deal the first hand, and from there, we will take turns moving clockwise around the table from myself. To start,” Celeste paused a moment as she pulled out five small black and white pouches, tossing one to each of the gathered students. Curiously, Kaede tugged open the pull strings to find a hefty amount of monocoins inside, letting out a soft ‘woah’ at the sight. The gothic lolita’s lips tugged further upward at the varying levels of surprise from the players. “A game is nothing without stakes. To make things more interesting, I’ve convinced Monokuma to grant everyone here fifty monocoins each to bet. They’re yours to keep… or lose. They go to whomever knocks their owner out of the game, or yourself if you choose to walk away with your winnings.”

Kirumi put a hand to her chin. “Why would Monokuma agree to that?” She pondered, her brow furrowing a touch. Peko’s eyes narrowed.

“He rarely does something without a reason, even if his childish behavior hides that. There must be something he wants out of this.” The swordswoman argued.

“Perhaps he simply thinks it would be interesting. Entertainment seems to be rather important to him. Regardless, I don’t see the harm.” Korekiyo replied, calmly creating stacks of coins on the side. 

Kaede’s lips thinned, an uncertain hum escaping her. “I mean… it’s a bit weird, but it does sound like something he’d do… I guess it’s fine. No one here would kill for something as petty as money.”

“... Quite. Now then, your cards,” Celeste replied as she pulled out a deck of cards and began shuffling them impressively quickly. The pianist caught a card slid to her and a second almost immediately after, awkwardly dumping the dozens of coins in front of her and trying to replicate Shinguji’s neatly structured stacks to little success. Once everyone’s cards were dealt and their impromptu chips were prepared, Ludenberg spoke again. “I believe we’re ready to-”

The sound of the door opening cut Celeste off, Kaede’s finely tuned ears letting her pick up on the noise almost as quickly as Peko. The pair looked to the entrance nearly simultaneously to find a yawning Chiaki lazily walking through the doors, their sudden shift in focus drawing the attention of the three other Ultimates as well. After a moment, Nanami noticed them, blinking. “... Hey guys. You’re early…”

“From a certain perspective, I suppose that’s true… but from ours, you’re almost fifteen minutes late, Chiaki…” Kiyo corrected. Chiaki tilted her head.

“Huh? I…” She pulled out her handheld and suddenly stopped, apparently realizing the built in clock proved the lanky man’s point. Chiaki frowned a little. “... Oh. Sorry, everyone. I might’ve overslept…”

“It is only a minor inconvenience. I had been planning on dealing you in eventually anyway,” The pale teen dismissed, dealing two more cards and a pack of coins to the last unoccupied seat that Chiaki claimed a few moments later. Celeste politely cleared her throat. “Ahem. Well, now that we’re all prepared, we may begin. To start, the blinds will be one and two coins. Kiyo and Chiaki, if you will.” Korekiyo and Chiaki put in their respective blinds before Celeste continued. “And I’ll raise by five. Kaede?”

The pianist checked her cards… and tried not to react at the pair of aces she found staring back at her. Her first hand of poker _ ever _ , and she got dealt _ that _ ? _ “G-geez! Okay, Kaede, keep calm…” _She ordered herself, doing everything in her power to keep a straight face. “Call…” Kaede said aloud evenly, placing her bet on the table. That was bound to be a good omen! With an opening like that, she was bound to win this hand, right?

… Or, at least, she would have been if even a _ single _card after her initial hand worked in her favor! The luckiest draw in the world didn’t matter much in the face of a three, seven, nine, a queen of spades, and jack of hearts. Kirumi and Chiaki had the sense to fold early, Celeste joining them by the fourth card, leaving the round down to just Peko, Korekiyo, and Kaede. Clinging to a hope for a third ace led Kaede to staying in despite the nearly impossible odds… which turned out to be just as impossible as expected when the river washed away any chance of victory. By contrast, both of her opponents managed competent hands, though Peko’s two pair of seven and nine couldn’t beat out Kiyo’s three sevens, winning the anthropologist the round. “A surprising turn of events, as welcome as it is. Then again, perhaps it was less unlikely than I suspect. Seven is a lucky number in dozens of cultures around the world, after all…” Kiyo cooed as he collected his winnings, both Kaede and Peko down fifteen coins each as a result.

“I don’t play gambling games often, but thirty-eight is usually pretty lucky for me… at least, when people don’t get mad and say I rigged the game from the start…” Chiaki mused, her lips twitching downward at the old accusation. Celeste hummed in affirmation.

“Such people make me wish for a nuclear winter. Win or lose, at least pretend to do so graciously. Anything else is frankly embarrassing.”

Kaede scratched her head, mildly taken aback by Celeste’s choice of phrase. “That’s… kind of intense, but I think I agree. It’s about the fun of it anyway, right? Well played, Kiyo!” The pianist congratulated, Peko offering a nod as well.

Shinguji tipped his cap. “Likewise. I believe it’s your turn to deal, Kaede.”

The next several hands were relatively unnoteworthy, everyone playing somewhat cautiously with their chips in the absence of particularly good cards. Kaede found herself folding more often, waiting out most rounds and only making minor profits or losses in the ones she did play. It wasn’t that she was doing poorly by any means, but the fact that she was running a slight deficit didn’t escape her notice. She couldn’t stay like that forever… especially as Chiaki put down a straight that obliterated her and Kirumi’s lowly two pairs, claiming victory -and the pot- for the third time since the game started. Nanami blinked, apparently as surprised by her own victory as the pianist was. “... I won again? Huh… neat. I thought my RNG was pretty bad that round. I was trying to get a three of a kind...” Chiaki admitted as she collected the moderately sized treasure of twenty coins. Kaede balked at her.

“You won like that without even trying? Geez… I think you’re selling your ‘RNG’ thing short!” The pianist said in shock. 

“Indeed. Though largely a game of skill, poker is still, at its core, built around luck. All the cleverness and talent in the world can’t save you from an unfortunate draw. Fortune is a fickle friend, but to truly succeed as a gambler, you must always recognize it as just that: a friend.” Celeste affirmed. Chiaki stared at them for a long moment before turning away with a small frown.

“My luck… isn’t great, usually. I’m not sure anyone’s is. I knew someone that was supposed to be really lucky, but… I don’t think that made him happy,” The gamer said softly, stilling for a moment before she blinked and shook her head. “... Anyway, you’re dealing, Kaede.”

Ludenberg nodded. “Correct. I believe it’s also time to raise the blinds to three and six coins.”

“Er, right...” The pianist confirmed, feeling somewhat awkward as she took the stack of cards and sent a pair to each of the various Ultimates. She could only guess as to what Chiaki was referring to, but whatever it was, it definitely didn’t sound good… much like her hand, in fact. Kaede barely kept her lips from pursing at the eight of clubs and six of diamonds waiting for her. Apparently, just talking about bad luck was enough to have some of it rub off on her! It was tempting to just fold outright then and there… but Akamatsu stared at the pot for a moment. 

Starting at nine made it a considerably heftier pot right from the start, even before anyone placed a bet. It wouldn’t be long before it reached the size of her entire collection. Kaede nearly winced as she glanced at her now meager pile of only thirty coins, a rather pitiful pile compared to her all-time high of seventy from just a few rounds prior. Next to the hoards Celeste and Chiaki had collected already, or even the modest piles the other players guarded, it was practically lunch money. Even as small as they still were, the blinds would gradually devastate her if she kept waiting for a solid hand over and over until she got hit with the fine. She needed to bolster her coin count and do so soon, but how? There was no way she could win with a hand like _ that _…

… Unless she tricked everyone into thinking she had something better! She was already used to acting more confident than she felt; compared to leading everyone, bluffing about some cards should be a cake walk! Kaede hid her smirk behind her otherwise useless cards. Celeste glanced at her for a long moment before pushing a stack of six coins forward. “Raise.”

“Raise…” Kaede said carefully, fearlessly putting twenty monocoins forward. It was a risky move to say the least, crazy even, but it was the sort of bold move that would make people think twice about trying for the pot. With ten coins left in her own pile and thirty-six in the pot before anyone else even started, Kaede was positive this would be _ amazing _for her if the plan worked. 

“Oh my! A bold move, Kaede. Such confidence… I have to see where this goes.” Kiyo commended, before shifting his attention over towards Kirumi. The maid’s emerald eye scrutinized the upbeat leader, rubbing a gloved finger against her coins thoughtfully. At last, the maid somewhat cautiously anted up.

Peko was less inclined to play along. “Fold.”

“Call.” Shinguji chirped, his mask creasing slightly from his grin. Apparently only having his eyes visible didn’t actually grant the anthropologist much of a poker face. Of course, the intrigue in his eyes would have given his delight away even without his smirk.

“Nope.” Chiaki said plainly, lamely tossing her cards down in front of her.

After staring at the other competitors in the hand for a moment, Celeste gave a non-committal hum of some sort. “Call…” She said, placing twenty of her own coins into the pot. 

It took everything Kaede had to keep from grinning. _ “Yes! This is going great! If I can get something out of the flop, I might not even have to bluff much harder!” _ The pink-clad girl merrily declared in her mind as she dealt out the first three cards of the hand. _ “Let’s see… a jack of hearts, oh hey, a six of spades! Aaand… a king of clubs. That’s… pretty terrible, actually. But… I might still be able to get away with this!” _

Ludenberg only studied the cards before simply declaring, “Check.”

Feeling much more cautious than when the round started, Kaede opted for a safer move. “I’ll check too.”

The cycle continued with Kirumi, the silver-haired servant unwilling to take a big risk on the odd selection of cards. A bit of caution was to be expected out of any normal person in a situation like that. It would take quite a bit of luck to have anything decent from a flop like that, so most people would play it safe. Unfortunately for Kaede, however, Korekiyo Shinguji was anything but a normal person, as the anthropologist proved by hugging himself tightly with a hum. “Hmm… how quickly confidence disappears in the face of adversity. A tale as old as humanity itself. Keheheh... perhaps you just need a reason to take action. I bet.” He rapsed, tossing five more coins into the already considerable pot. Celeste called it without a moment of hesitation while Kaede could only stare blankly at it, a hint of nervousness rising in her.

_ “... I was a bit overconfident, wasn’t I? Crap… I can’t back out of this! What can I do? I’m definitely screwed if I fold, but calling just speeds that up! There’s no way I can get around this, unless… that’s crazy! But... okay, this is going to be _ ** _really_ ** _ tight, but if it works…” _The pianist took a breath before shoving every last coin into the pot. “All in!”

The reaction from the rest of the table was immediate. Kiyo raised a hand to his mouth in surprise before laughing in that ever-so-creepy chuckle of his. “Wonderful! Such a small act inspired such great courage! I’m pleased to see you rise to the occasion, Kaede!” He joyfully exclaimed. Kirumi similarly covered her mouth, though no such ranting escaped the surprised maid. Chiaki, who had somehow fallen asleep in the -_ at most- _ minute and a half since folding, suddenly snapped awake, looking at her blearily with a murmured ‘huh?’. Peko looked mildly taken aback for a second before her red orbs narrowed scrutinizingly. After several beats of hesitation, Kirumi’s lips pursed slightly before she folded, whilst Korekiyo almost giddily tossing his coins in almost immediately after. With nearly every bet placed, five pairs of eyes shifted to the last student at the table.

Celeste’s heavy ruby gaze bore into her like a scientist studying a particularly intelligent rat. In her right hand, the gambler idly ran a monocoin between her fingers with ease, rolling the small circle of metal across her knuckles as if she’d been doing it since the day she was born while the other daintily rested in her lap. Pure nothingness was encapsulated in Ludenberg’s features, the blankness of it growing more and more ominous with each long moment that passed between the two. The only sound at the table was the soft clinking of the coin when it occasionally bumped into Celeste’s finger guard as she played with it. At last, she stopped, trapping the coin between her index finger and thumb as she looked directly into Kaede’s eyes. 

“... You have nothing.” The gambler plainly announced… before pushing her mountain of coins into the pot in a tsunami of bronze. 

Kaede’s neutral mask shattered into pure shock, her eyes as wide as dinner plates as the pianist became slack jawed. “Wh-what?!” She sputtered out in disbelief. Celeste didn’t bat an eye.

“Is something wrong, Kaede? You seem somewhat perturbed. A bad bet, perhaps?” The gambler asked blanky, more robotic in her behavior than Keebo had ever been. The pianist tried not to gulp.

“I believe I made the right choice by not participating in this hand any longer. Good luck.” Kirumi wished, and though she didn’t specify whom it was meant for, the intended target was apparent.

Shinguji paused for several moments, looking almost in prayer before reluctantly setting his cards aside. “Yes… that strikes me as a wise decision now. Fold.”

_ “Oh no, oh no, oh no, what the _ ** _hell _ ** _ is she doing?! Why would you make a crazy bet like _ ** _THAT_ ** _ ?!” _Kaede all but screamed in her mind. On the outside, she nervously drummed her fingers on the table without realizing it. “... Uh… this is when we show our hands, right?” She asked, as much a stalling tactic as she hoped against all hope that something would happen to miraculously turn her luck around. At Celeste’s nod, the blonde hesitantly picked up her cards. “Right… well…” Kaede flipped her cards over, feeling her cheeks burn brightly as her frankly embarrassing bluff got revealed to the entire table.

Celeste glanced down at the cards, taking in the sight of Kaede’s ploy for a few seconds before humming. “I see… well then,” Celeste laid down her hand, revealing a jack of diamonds and a queen of hearts. Kaede didn’t bother hiding her grimace. At last, the tiniest smirk imaginable graced the gambler’s lips. “Oh dear. It seems you’re in quite the tricky position, aren’t you?”

Kaede didn’t respond as she put down the fourth card to find an absolutely useless two of hearts underneath. _ “... I am _ ** _so _ ** _ screwed! If this next card isn’t a six or eight, I’m gone! Please, please, please-!” _ She all but prayed, flipping over the last card with a desperate hope in her heart and-

A jack of clubs. Kaede glowered down at the card, having never felt so betrayed by an inanimate object in her life. It felt like she’d been punched in the stomach, her entire plan tumbling down around her in one foul swoop. Her oh-so brilliant plan to stay in the game had completely backfired, and with it, her shot at socializing with some of the more reclusive members of the group. A part of her felt silly for taking the loss so hard. It hadn’t seemed that important before she lost, and it was just a game anyways, so why did she feel so bad about it? Unless… maybe the fact that one of her plans had failed again that was bothering her. This was hardly the first time she overestimated her own cleverness and paid the price for it, now was it? Akamatsu slowly sat back in her seat, blushing in embarrassment as she squeezed her arm. “G-geez… I guess that didn’t really work out, huh?” The pianist almost jokingly lamented, smiling ruefully despite herself.

“Not precisely, no. I applaud your tenacity, however,” Celeste confirmed with a smile as she raked in the positively monstrous pile of coins, officially knocking Kaede out of the game once and for all. The gambler quickly got to work stacking the lump of at least a hundred and fifty coins into neat pillars. Glancing at Kaede’s somewhat disappointed expression, Ludenberg continued. “I’m guessing you think you’re going to have to leave the table, correct?” The gambler guessed correctly. Apparently getting whatever answer she was looking for just from Kaede’s face before she could even speak, the gothic girl steepled her fingers. “This would normally be the point where the losing player would walk away… but, I did promise you a bonding experience. You may stay if you like.”

Kaede blinked in surprise, perking up considerably. “Really? Is that okay with you guys?” She double checked, just in case someone else felt differently. After all, despite her natural charisma, years of being avoided and demeaned as a so-called piano freak left her relatively new at having friends. At the others’ varying levels of approval, Kaede felt her disappointment fade away to contentment. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Well…” She pumped her fists supportingly. “Good luck, everyone!”

With that, the game resumed, sans one player. The discussion was light, mostly consisting of Korekiyo talking about various gambling traditions around the world and Celeste telling the occasional tale of her past exploits that Kaede couldn’t help but silently put in the same category as Kaito’s ludicrous supposed adventures. Still, the gothic girl was talking freely and without insulting or mocking anyone, so it was still a win in Kaede’s book. A number of rounds passed without much of note happening, consisting relatively small bets and standard hands without any major upsets or turn arounds. Far from dull, but not precisely thrilling either. 

Roughly twenty minutes after Kaede was knocked out, a small but comfortable break in the conversation prompted Peko to suddenly speak up. “Kirumi. You're the Ultimate Maid, correct?”

Kirumi glanced at her, intrigued by the normally quiet teen’s sudden interest in her. Kaede’s curiosity peaked as well, turning to look at the unlikely pair as they spoke. “Indeed. It is a title I have achieved through years of servitude.” Tojo replied, calling Celeste’s raise without hesitation. The Ultimate Swordswoman followed suit with an acknowledging hum.

“So you’ve served many people before… out of curiosity, have you ever... felt that you failed one of those people?”

A somber frown spread across Kirumi’s elegant features. “... Unfortunately, yes. Some more so than others…” She sighed, not quite meeting Kaede’s eye. The pianist thinned her lips.

“The past is the past, remember?” Kaede offered with a sympathetic gaze. Kirumi didn’t respond.

“... I see…” Peko noted, a hint of dejection bleeding into her words. Akamatsu looked at her curiously.

“Not to sound pushy, but that's kind of a weird question to be hearing from someone like you, Peko. Is there something that would make you ask that so suddenly?” 

Pekoyama’s gaze was heavy, her lips curling in thought as the swordswoman seemed to consider whether or not to answer the admittedly rather personal question. After a long moment, Peko bowed her head with a quiet confession. “... Ever since I recovered my memories of my killing game, I've been worried I might've failed someone dear to me.”

“Keheheh... an answer that vague is usually followed by a story. Would you mind elaborating a bit on that?” Korekiyo asked as he called, sounding far more intrigued than particularly concerned.

“I too would like to hear. Please, continue.” Celeste added, watching the silver-haired warrior with intrigue. After a moment of silence, Peko continued speaking.

“... To keep it brief, my… _ employer _ and I ended up being participants in the same killing game. During my execution... he ended up getting caught in the middle of the crossfire,” Peko nearly growled, her fierce red eyes forming into a wince as her teeth clenched. “I... did my absolute best to keep him as safe as I possibly could, constantly trying to angle my body so the swords would get caught in my bones instead of piercing through me into him, but even then, as I began to lose consciousness from the executioners attacks, I still noticed the occasional blade slicing him through me… one of the last things I saw before blacking out entirely was _ my blade _slicing his eye.”

Dead silence consumed the room, the game pausing in the wake of that bombshell. Kaede certainly didn’t know how to respond to something like that. Even Kiyo seemed slightly taken aback, though more in the way of accidentally bumping into an old acquaintance than being taken off guard by some genuinely shocking news. Pekoyama turned downwards, staring into the table shamefully. “I... worry about him. He is the closest friend I’ve ever had. There is nothing in the world that is more important to me than making sure he is safe, but... after seeing him in that state…” The normally stoic swordswoman showed the first sign of vulnerability Kaede had ever seen in her, the black-clad woman reminding her of a limping lion.

Kirumi summed it up well. “... You're wondering if you weren't able to save him from your execution...” She said sympathetically. Peko’s grimace confirmed the obvious.

“... If you're worried about Fuyuhiko... well, I don't think you have to worry about him,” Chiaki broke the silence with a hint of relief in her voice. Peko’s head snapped up to face the gamer, giving Nanami her full attention. “I was there for every trial that one of our friends here went through, from Teruteru's to Gundham's. And even during my own trial, right up to the moment when I was executed, Fuyuhiko was there as well.”

Pekoyama became straight as a rod, desperate hope and a quiet fear of despair battling for dominance behind her glasses. “You mean... he's still alive?” She asked, voice unimaginably small for such a legendary fighter.

The pink-haired girl glanced to the side. “... I can't be entirely sure what happened after my trial, but... knowing them, I think he and the others with him made it out okay. Even if I can't be sure…” Chiaki’s lips tugged upwards in a tiny but heartfelt simper. “I believe in them.”

It was like a mountain had been lifted from Peko’s very soul. After a stunned moment, so much of the tension, suspicion, and quiet lethality Kaede saw in Peko every moment since they regained their memories disappeared, the swordswoman sucking in a breath as if she hadn’t breathed in years. Then again, from her perspective, it might as well have been. Twice in the same hour, Pekoyama managed another first for Kaede in the form of the relieved smile that replaced her distressed lour. “Even if you don’t know for sure, that is... a massive relief, to say the least. Thank you, Chiaki.”

“Keheheh… your concern for your friend, how such deep hopelessness transformed into insurmountable relief… such a beautiful display of humanity! Truly wonderful!” Korekiyo howled gleefully, a delighted grin poorly hidden beneath his mask. The entire table stared at him in perturbed bemusement until Kaede decided to steer the conversation in a less insane direction. 

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you again too, once we get out of here. Maybe you could introduce us!” She enthusiastically added. 

“... Perhaps. He isn’t the most fond of people… but he might like you.” The swordswoman tentatively agreed, though the pleased expression didn’t leave her face. Celeste politely cleared her throat.

“Yes, well, now that that’s resolved, shall we continue? Call, raise, or fold, Chiaki…” Ludenberg reminded them. With that, the game started back up. The following hands fell into the same usual pattern of cautious bets and unimpressive wins, slowly draining some players of their wealth while rewarding it to the more daring among them. Peko happened to be the primary victim of that, her defensive playstyle slowly bleeding her dry until she eventually bowed out with a modest twenty coins to her name. Somewhat surprisingly, the swordswoman didn’t simply leave like Kaede had expected, opting to watch the match like the pianist herself. 

Chiaki didn’t fare as well several hands later. Despite logical strategies befitting of the Ultimate Gamer, it seemed no amount of virtual poker could make up for real experience, as the pink-haired girl repeatedly managed to fall for Kirumi and Celeste’s bluffs until she found herself bereft of monocoins. “Huh… tells in games are usually a lot more obvious. If only I had a magic bracelet that helped me find them…” Nanami pondered aloud as the last of her coins vanished into Celeste’s ever-growing mound of them.

“No amount of magic can beat a sharp eye. More than a few magicians learned that the hard way against me.” Ludenberg boasted, drawing a hum from Korekiyo.

“Sleight of hand can easily be undone by a clever viewer… but I wonder if that would hold true against the _ Ultimate _Magician. Himiko shows so little emotion or movement that I nearly mistook her for a statue at times. Perhaps she could manage to fool even you, Celestia...” The anthropologist mused. A hint of intrigue entered the gambler’s gaze.

“My my. She sounds like a challenge. Assuming no one killed her, I would quite like to test that theory someday,” Celeste announced, commenting on Yumeno’s theoretical death far too casually for Kaede’s taste. “Putting that aside for now, however, it seems that it’s time to raise the blinds to five and ten coins.”

Kirumi glanced around the table, taking note of who remained in the game. “I must admit, I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t expect a poker game against the Ultimate Gambler to last this long.”

“Are you busy? If so, you can feel free to drop out and take your winnings as you go to do whatever you need to do.” Celeste reminded. Kirumi shook her head.

“No, nothing that I cannot complete after the game. I was invited to compete with you, and I intend to do that to the best of my ability.”

Celeste smirked faintly. “I’d expect nothing less from the Ultimate Maid,” She affirmed, glancing around the table herself. “Though I will confess, I am surprised that there’s still more than a single opponent left at the table after this much time has passed. That doesn’t happen often.”

“I, personally, am more interested by the people who ended up surviving this long, myself. After this long, the only people still competing are those who cannot remember why they did what they had done to arrive here in the first place. Quite an interesting coincidence, I have to say…” Korekiyo pointed. 

Kaede hummed to herself, crossing her arms in thought. “Huh… come to think of it, that is a little strange. Maybe it’s just weird luck?”

“... Quite the coincidence indeed…” Ludenberg said slowly, her face blank. After a moment the goth leaned in slightly, her red eyes practically challenging her to look away. “On that note, before I deal the next hand, I would like to propose a way for us to… raise the stakes, let us say.

Kaede held up a finger in confusion. “Wait, didn’t you just raise the blinds? What else are you planning on betting?”

“Indeed. This is somewhat unusual to do this late into a match, Miss Ludenberg…” Kirumi noted, her emerald eye scrutinizing the gambler.

Korekiyo waved a hand. “Yes… but it would be a lie to say I’m not curious what she’s planning. If you would, Celeste?”

The girl in question giggled lightly. “I take it you are interested then? Very well. Here’s what I am proposing…” She intoned before reaching into her blazer and pulling out her monopad, setting it down next to her coins, much to the confusion of the gathered students. 

“You’re betting your monopad? Doesn’t that strike you as… unwise?” Tojo questioned, brow furrowing. Celeste shook her head.

“Do not misunderstand. I am not gambling away the key to my room and lab. I am, however, providing an offer. You see, a little before our game started, Monokuma ended up sending me a most interesting motive video. A video that helped to shed quite a few lights on **someone here**.”

The shock was palpable. For a moment, no one spoke, too surprised by the sudden reveal to respond. Chiaki was the first to recover, her eyebrows raised in concern. “‘Someone here? Do you mean…”

“Indeed. The motive video I received was for one of the players in this little game of ours. With it, I learned not only about their murder, but even found out what his or her motive ended up being,” Celeste explained. Korekiyo and Kirumi noticeably shifted their gaze to the tablet, though neither said a word. “It would seem you are both quite interested. Excellent. In that case, I will add some collateral to the victory pot; If anyone at this table beats me at this match, then they will not only acquire all the coins from the game, but as an added bonus, I shall show said victor the motive video that I received. Peko, if you’re so inclined, feel free to buy back in with what you have left.”

Peko crossed her arms, her gaze sharp and unyielding. “No. I meant it when I said I have nothing to hide, nor any reason to pry into someone else’s past. If you have my video, so be it.”

Kaede copied Peko’s pose, narrowing her eyes at the gambler. "Why are you gambling with this, Celeste? If you trust us enough to show whoever wins what's on the tape, why not just tell them outright? You can't be too concerned about anyone targeting you over it, because otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up at all. What exactly are you doing?" She questioned suspiciously, unsure of Celeste's intentions but doubtful all the same.

The gambler didn't hesitate for so much as a second. "Two things, mostly. First, I am of the opinion that truly high rewards require high risk. Information like this should be earned, not merely given," Celeste explained monotonously, almost as if it was a line she'd practiced thousands of times before. "As for the second…" The corners of her mouth twitched up ever so slightly. "It certainly adds a bit of mystery, doesn't it?"

Shinguji closed his eyes, a hidden smile shifting his mask slightly. “Mystery… and desperation. Having us try to chase after a possible link to our past is a clever trick to make us play sloppily, Celeste. Curiosity kills the cat, as they say.”

“If that’s what you want to believe, there is nothing to be done. I am simply offering something I feel will make the game more interesting. Whether you choose to pursue it or not is your own choice.”

Kirumi bowed her head deeply, her eyes closed and lips thin. “... Regardless of whether this is a ploy or not, I assure you, I will do everything in my power to win. I must know why I… _ killed _Mister Hoshi. I at least owe him that much… and you, for breaking our promise,” The maid gravely intoned, tilting her head towards Kaede. The pianist started to speak, but in a rare display of assertiveness, Kirumi interrupted her. “I apologize, but this is not something I can back down from. This is just as much for myself as for others, I’m afraid.”

“Your devotion to others is truly inspiring, Kirumi. For my part, I must admit my goals are not quite so noble. I simply think it would be intriguing to learn more about my fellow prisoners, or myself, if I’m so lucky. As a matter of principle, however, I would be more than happy to share the tape with you if it so happens to be yours.” The anthropologist promised with a tip of his cap. Kirumi noded in turn.

“And I shall do the same if it’s yours, Mister Shinguji. May the best player win.” Kirumi agreed, offering a gloved hand to the lanky man. He accepted with one of his bandage-ridden own.

“Likewise. Win or lose, this has already been well worth my while.”

_ “At least they’re not turning against each other, I guess? I mean, if this was over anything but one of the motive videos, this would be great…” _A conflicted Kaede thought to herself. Peko's distrusting eyes honed in on the gambler, Chiaki looking as uncertain as Kaede felt, but none of them verbally objected. 

Celeste's smirk grew ever so slightly. "My my, two against one? This should truly be something. Very well..." Ludenberg dealt the hand as quick as a cobra, holding her cards in front of her like a weapon. "Let's begin, shall we?"

The Ultimate Maid and Anthropologist attempted a two-pronged strategy, each attempting to play at the same time whenever their hands were decent to ensure as many opportunities to whittle down Celeste's considerable fortune as possible. It was likely why it took the gambler six hands before she finally managed to knock Korekiyo out of the running completely, though once he was gone, Ludenberg's wolfish sight fell on Kirumi alone. It was an aggressive war of attrition, the black-clad aristocrat forcing the maid into costly calls every betting round that left her with no choice but to meet or fold. Soon enough, Tojo's stacks totalling at least a hundred found their way into her opponent's pile one by one until the silver-haired girl had to push forward her last coin just to meet the blinds. 

"Raise..." Celeste declared more as a favor than any real necessity, offering fifty coins in case Tojo managed to turn things around as the two set their cards down. Kirumi revealed a pair of tens, a strong contender, only to be met with Celeste's ten of clubs and jack of hearts. A tense silence fell over the room as the maid dealt out the flop, which gave way to a jack of clubs, a ten of diamonds, and a six of clubs. A beat passed before the turn showed a mutually useless two of spades. As it stood, Kirumi's hand was nearly unbeatable given what Celeste had. It was statistically next to impossible for her to pull out a winning hand. The dead silence of the room was deafening in the short eternity before Kirumi flipped the final card… to find a jack of diamonds. 

“Woah! Really?” Kaede blurted out in disbelief. Though more restrained than herself to varying degrees, the shock resounded across the table. Kirumi’s visible eye went wide with shock, blinking down at the card for a few seconds before closing them with yet another bow of her head.

“Well played, Miss Ludenberg.”

“Thank you, Kirumi, and you as well. To everyone at this table,” Ludenberg complimented, smiling pleasantly as she raked in the last of her winnings. After a moment, she let out a low, considering hum. “... In fact… as something of a runner’s up prize for you and Korekiyo for doing so well, I’ll say this much: this tape is not either of yours.”

“Not to disparage you, Celeste, but how can we be certain of that? It would be easy to simply say that to make sure neither of us sought to get the video through… less legitimate means.” Kiyo pointed out, waggling a finger like a professor pointing out a logical error.

“Is that a threat, Korekiyo?” Peko challenged, fixing the anthropologist with a hard look. Celeste shook her head.

“Quite the opposite, actually. I doubt he would say something so suspicious if he had any real intention of doing such a thing. Hmm… very well. I suppose I can confirm it in a way that makes it more definitive,” Ludenberg hummed, taking a moment to think about her wording. “... The victim of the tape I watched died from a severe blow to the head.”

Kaede failed to conceal a wince. Well, that _ probably _confirmed her suspicions, then. Korekiyo leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. “Well then… that certainly does confirm what you say, given what I recall of our killing game.”

Kirumi nodded. “For better or worse, yes. I don't know if I would have preferred that or not...”

“Well, either way, the game is done. Thank you all for an engaging match, and if you wish for a rematch, feel free to ask. In the meantime, there’s still some work I need to finish here in my lab, but feel free to leave as you will.” Celeste thanked, giving a small curtsy before turning her attention to the large stacks of currency in front of her.

Sooner or later, each of the gathered students left the casino to go about their own business. Chiaki and Peko were the first to go, bidding farewell and leaving together, the swordswoman likely aiming to have a more private discussion about that friend they mentioned. After ensuring multiple times that her services wouldn’t be required, Kirumi also bowed out, making sure to let them know she would likely be in the dining hall if needed. Some time after, Korekiyo finally departed as well, leaving just Kaede and Celeste in the entire lab.

“And then there were two...” Ludenberg hummed as she rose from the table. The gambler picked up the stack of cards and shuffled it, once again making the relatively simple task seem like the sort of spectacle people paid Himiko quite a bit to see. After several more seconds of moving the cards about, Celeste took a small box out of a pocket in her blazer and put the stack inside before hiding it once again. Figuring she should say something while she had the opportunity, Kaede spoke up.

“So, did Hifumi give you those, or did you find them here?”

Celeste paused, looking at her in confusion. “Pardon?”

“Your playing cards,” Kaede clarified. “He had a huge pile of stuff from the Monomono machine yesterday. He mentioned he was looking for something nice to give to you.”

“Ah. No, these have been mine for a number of years. They were the first set of cards I ever owned, in fact. I bought them as a child.” The gothic girl said casually. Akamatsu blinked.

“Wait, they’re that old? They look practically brand new! You must take great care of them, Celeste.”

“Partly,” Celeste corrected, taking the box out again and looking at the tin. “While I care for them quite a bit, their condition really comes down to how rarely I actually get to use them. Most legitimate tournaments don’t allow players to use their own decks to prevent cheating, and I’ve been banned from most underground circuits in the country. Even when I first started gambling, I quickly won a number of higher quality sets for any number of games simply through my usual tournaments. Still, I have kept them through the years.”

Kaede raised a finger. “I think I know what that’s like. I always loved my first piano, even if it was really just a glorified keyboard toy glued to some plastic. I got so mad at my dad when he accidentally threw it out…” She chuckled, her laugh slowly fading into something more somber as the thought sunk in. _ “Dad… Kanda… oh god, do they even know what happened to me? Do… do they know I murdered someone?” _

She didn’t have long to dwell on that terrifying realization as Celeste smirked slightly. “Indeed. Firsts are important to informing who we are. I’ve kept it as a reminder of how far I’ve come. I still remember how fascinated I was when I first saw her face in the store,” Ludenberg reminisced, her smirk growing into a genuine smile. “The Queen of Hearts. So confident. Composed. Unyielding. Truly royal. Everything I loved. Everything I…” Celeste stopped, blinking in a rare display of uncertainty as she glanced towards Kaede. “... Ahem. My point being, I was so intrigued by that one card on the box that I bought these cards, left everything else behind, and never looked back since. I suppose you could say these cards are the reason I became who I am today.”

Kaede’s brow furrowed, the girl crossing her arms and looking at the gambler with something bordering on pity. “Never looked back? But what about your friends? Family?”

Celeste’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What about them?”

Akamatsu stared at her in shock. “Wh- don’t you miss them?!”

“No. There is a reason I never looked back,” Celeste tersed, a touch of harshness slipping into her carefully measured tone. Kaede could only blink in slack jawed surprise, completely taken by surprise. The words hung in the air for a long moment before Celeste’s features reset, her tone returning to the same slight monotone as if nothing ever happened. “... Speaking of firsts, Kaede, how did you enjoy your first game of poker?”

Kaede managed a small smile. “Actually, it was really fun! Even if I’m pretty bad at it, apparently.”

Ludenberg shook her head. “On the contrary. You did exceptionally well for a beginner.”

The pianist paused, quirking an eyebrow. “But I busted out first…”

Celeste’s lips quirked upward. “Yes… to the Ultimate Gambler. You lost to one of the best poker players on the planet, after successfully fooling the entire table into playing into your trap with one of the worst hands in the game, all during your first time ever playing,” The gambler pointed out, Kaede feeling more silly with each escalation. Celeste sat down once again, resting her head on her hands. “Yes, you lost. But, some rookie mistakes aside, you made rather intelligent moves. Your bluffing in particular is very impressive. If you worked on reducing your tell, you would be a formidable player.”

“My… tell? What?” Akamatsu asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Your tell,” Celeste repeated, flicking at a strand of her hair. “Quite a lot can be gleaned from someone’s body language before they ever speak. Every person has their own little quirks and tells that give away their feelings. A nervous habit, perhaps, or a minor twitch that happens every time they do something. For instance, every time you got a good hand, you blinked.”

Kaede blinked. “I did?”

“Indeed. Seeing as how you just did it again, I believe it happens whenever you’re surprised. Or, perhaps, whenever you’re about to tell a lie.”

Kaede glared at the gambler. “I don’t lie to people.”

Celeste’s smirk grew. “And there’s the blink. Thank you for confirming that theory,” Ludenberg said sweetly. Kaede opened her mouth to refute the gambler, only to slowly let it close as it became clear anything she said would just dig her grave deeper. “There is no need to feel ashamed. Everyone lies, Kaede. It’s how and why they do so that determines how society views them. Besides, the ability to mask your thoughts is a key part of poker.”

Kaede thinned her lips. “Well… not that I’m planning on becoming a pro gambler or something, but how can I deal with that ‘tell’ thing?”

“Different players have different methods. Some wear sunglasses, though this makes what your tell is rather obvious. Others choose to exaggerate other aspects of themselves to try to hide it by talking or making dramatic shows out of their moves. Others still simply learn how to mind their own body language. For you? Sunglasses might be an acceptable crutch until you become more experienced.” Celeste explained, an almost mentoral tone in her voice.

Kaede hummed as she closed her eyes. “Sunglasses, huh? That sounds… honestly a lot cooler than how I usually dress,” She admitted with a small chuckle at her own expense. “But I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Celeste!”

Ludenberg smiled without a trace of the usual restraint or mockery usually adorning the gambler’s features. “Of course. Encouraging new talent is the lifeblood of my profession. Without new faces, the sport is bound to die out. It is my pleasure,” Celeste approved. After a few moments, the gambler gave a small courtesy. “Now then… I believe I shall stay here, for the time being. You may go. I imagine Kaito and the like are waiting for you.”

Kaede nodded. “Probably, yeah. Well, see you later, and thanks again for the game, Celeste!” She bid farewell, rising from her seat and waving at the other girl happily. 

Celeste nodded. “You as well.”

With that, Akamatsu left the casino, starting on her way to the dining hall to grab some of whatever food was left. Though she left in high spirits, it didn’t take long for her haunting thoughts of her family to return to her in the ominous silence of the halls. It had been so easy to forget about them with everything going on, between the confused terror of her original situation, fear of the time limit, her horrified guilt at her own plan, and then finding herself in yet another impossible reality, but now that they occurred to her, they wouldn’t leave her mind. It had been hard enough seeing the crushing disappointment and hurt on the faces of friends she’d only had for a handful of days when her crime was revealed to them. The idea of her little sister looking at her with the same betrayed gaze, or her dear father finding out what a monstrous thing she’d done, was like a punch to the gut.

All her life, her dad taught her to be kind to people whenever she could. To try and lift people up, even if she didn’t feel much more confident than they did, because that was the right thing to do, no matter how much the other kids mocked her. Whenever she thought of just giving up and being mean back, her dad would remind her how proud he was of her, eccentricities and all… how proud her mom would have been. Kanda practically hero-worshipped her for it, even! Yet where would that pride and love go when they found out what she did? Who would be proud of a murderer and a liar? They’d hate her for it. She’d deserve that much, but even the thought of it was enough to make her eyes water.

Possibly even worse than that, though, was the possibility that they had no idea what happened. The idea that she just disappeared one day and they never saw her again or found out what happened to her, being left to guess what fate befell her for the rest of their lives. Would they hold out hope that she was still alive? For how long? If they _ did _ know… did they have to watch her execution? Oh _ god _… she prayed to whoever was out there that they didn’t. They didn’t deserve that kind of suffering. Kanda couldn’t even handle gory movies for god’s sake! If she had to watch her sister get tortured to death after having her faith in her completely shattered-

Kaede’s dire thoughts were interrupted as she felt herself collide with something hard enough to knock her off balance, a startled grunt escaping her. “Oof! Wha-”

_ Thump! _

Whatever she walked into hit the floor with a grunt of their own getting cut off by the sound of them impacting the ground. Kaede shook her head wildly to banish the confused fog of thoughts as she tried to process what just happened, glancing around her surroundings. She blinked in confusion as she took in the sight of over a dozen red doors spaciously spread across a long hall on each side. Wait, when did she get back to the dorms? She didn’t remember going downstairs! Sure, they weren’t that far from the casino, but she’d only just started walking back, hadn’t she? When did-

“... Ow…” A girl murmured, drawing Kaede’s attention down to a slightly disheveled looking Chiaki. The gamer was staring up at her with a slight wince, rubbing her elbow. Her handheld rested a foot or so away from her, apparently ripped from her grasp on impact. Kaede’s hand flew up to her mouth.

“Chiaki?! Oh, geez, I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you up!” The pianist frantically apologized, quickly kneeling down and holding out a hand to the smaller girl. Blinking and giving her head a small shake, Chiaki accepted, getting pulled up to her feet by the slightly mortified blonde. “Are you okay?”

“Yep… I think. Just startled me a little.”

Kaede cringed slightly, rubbing her head. “Sorry. I kind of got lost in my own head…” The pink-clad musician admitted with a touch of embarrassment. Chiaki shrugged.

“It’s okay. To be honest, I wasn’t looking where I was going either. I just kind of got used to moving around people while I play my games,” Nanami dismissed. Seeming to realize it was missing, Chiaki glanced around until she found the console and picked it up, examining the device carefully. After a few moments, she closed the viewscreen, putting it away in her coat pocket. “I was about to lose anyway… Kaede? You look upset… what’s up?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just… a little stressed. A lot going on, you know?” Kaede partially admitted. It wasn’t really a lie, after all. Not giving every detail wasn’t the same as making something up, right…? Pursing her lips a little, the blonde tried to force a change in topic. “Anyway, I was just going to grab a bit of lunch. Do you and Peko want to join? Wait… where is Peko?” She asked, suddenly realizing the two weren’t together anymore.

Chiaki shook her head. “Peko left to practice in Sakura’s lab a while ago. Kirumi left a plate at your door, but isn’t it getting a little late for lunch?”

Kaede raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? It’s only half past one-” She ground to a halt as she checked her monopad’s clock to find it was nearly three’oclock already, eyes widening in shock. “H-huh?! What?! When did it get so late?!” She all but yelled, completely taken off guard. Kaede stared at the small tablet, unable to believe what she was saying._ “G-geez! How lost in thought was I?!” _

Chiaki’s brow furrowed slightly. “Are you sure you’re okay? That… doesn’t seem good.”

Kaede shifted uncomfortably. “I… guess I was a lot more worried than I thought. Usually I have to be playing a piano to lose track of time like that…” She said lightly, trying to play it off as something funny despite how much it actually concerned her. Chiaki didn’t fall for it.

“... Hmm… usually when I’m feeling really worried about something, I try to take a nap. I usually feel better when I wake up. That could help… I think.”

Kaede weakly crossed her arms. “But wouldn’t that just waste time? I already blew almost two hours, apparently…”

“It’s only a waste of time if it doesn’t do anything. Games are fun. Piano makes people happy. Sleep helps you think straight. If it helps you feel better, then you should do it. It’s not easy to help people when you’re getting zerg-rushed with bad thoughts.” Chiaki offered, a knowing glint in her eye. Akamatsu hummed as she considered the gamer’s advice.

“... Well… I guess a few hours wouldn’t hurt. Better than just wandering around, at least,” The pianist hesitantly conceded, still not thrilled with the idea, but unable to find a decent argument against it. She couldn’t shake the feeling there was something she meant to do, yet no matter how hard she tried to remember what it was, her mind came up blank. Annoying, but there wasn’t much she could do about it until it came back to her. “Thanks, Chiaki. Could you let Kaito know if you see him?”

“Yep. See you later, Kaede.” The gamer said with a small wave. Kaede mirrored the action as she retired to her room, taking in Kirumi’s thoughtfully prepared meal and putting it on the coffee table and lazily collapsing onto the bed with a sigh.

“Okay… sleep now, plan later…” Kaede muttered to herself. Chiaki was right; she wouldn’t be useful to anyone in her state. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the regrets plaguing her mind in favor of the quiet nothingness of sleep.

***

Kaede awoke still feeling somewhat groggy a few hours later, checking her clock to find she’d slightly slept in through dinner. Not by much, as it was only a quarter past seven, but it was still an annoyance to the pianist. “Shoot! What’s up with me today?” She grunted under her breath as she pulled herself out of bed. After making sure she didn’t have too bad a case of bedhead, the blonde quickly rushed out to join the others.

Approaching the dining room, though, she nearly barreled into a remarkably pale Leon as he stormed out of the hall plate in hand. “Whoa! Sorry, Leo-”

“AH! JESUS! Wh- back off!” He barked in a panic, sweat running down his face as he suddenly rushed past her, almost making a break for his room and slamming the door behind him. Kaede blinked in sheer confusion.

“Oookay then…” She muttered to herself, scratching her head before stepping into the considerably empty dining hall. Peko was in her usual corner, though once again joined by Sakura, while the only other people in the hall were Mikan, Kaito, Kirumi, and a very pleased-looking Celeste. The gambler was holding a small black and red umbrella in one hand and her monopad in the other, the frilly accessory lightly laying on her shoulder as she sat at a table closer to the door than her usual nest closer towards the kitchen. Eyebrows raised, she approached the gothic girl. “Hey, Celeste?”

The gambler looked up at her from the screen. “Ah. Hello, Kaede. Is something the matter?”

“Do you have any idea what’s up with Leon? He was acting _ really _weird just now.”

"Oh, that? He approached me with the suggestion of trading motive videos. He had one I was interested in, so I agreed. Apparently, he was unsettled by my tape enough that he felt the need to leave. Oh well." Celeste said with a small sigh. Kaede blinked at her.

_ "If she _ ** _does _ ** _ have my tape, that would explain why Leon was so freaked out by me, but…" _She crossed her arms, fixing the gambler with a confused look. "You traded motives with him? Why? I thought you said people had to earn your tape."

"Simple. He had something I wanted, and to be perfectly honest, Leon is far too much of an idiot to do anything dangerous with the information I had to give up for it. Coincidentally, this is why I wouldn't trade with anyone else. He is the only one I don't believe could be a real threat." Celeste dismissed casually. 

"To you, maybe, but that doesn't mean it's fine for everyone else!"

Ludenberg sipped her tea. "C'est la vie, but believe me when I say he is of no consequence."

"He better not," Kaede warned with a pout, mentally resigning herself to having to deal with Leon's nonsense sooner or later. Sighing, she shifted her gaze to the parasol somewhat curiously. "... Where'd you get this, anyway?"

Celeste twirled the ornate accessory. "Lovely, isn't it? After you left, I spent much of the day converting my winnings into monotokens with the various arcade games for the exchange. I found this and simply had to have it. Such a wonderful prize is simply bound to be mine."

"Uh… huh," Kaede hesitantly agreed, not really in the mood for arguing with the goth yet again. "Well… enjoy it. I'm gonna go talk with some of the others and see where everyone is. See you later."

The rest of the evening passed by in a bit of a blur. Dinner wasn't like the previous day's event, more of an occasional trickle of students in and out of the cafeteria than any sort of real group event. The mood at Kaede's table was more or less unchanged, aside from even more nervousness from Mikan, but the overall room was considerably more tense. Even Kaito’s enthusiasm wasn’t enough to break through the fog lingering over them all. By the time the already few students started dispersing a little over an hour later, the ship felt like a ghost town, and it wasn’t long after that Kaede found herself once again alone in her room, bored and bordering on frustrated.

Clearly, most people had gotten their motive video at this point, and probably watched it as well if the grim silence most of them had was any indication. The question was what precisely she could do about it, and no matter how much she thought about it, she kept pulling a blank. There was no solution she could come up with that wouldn’t either possibly make things worse or do nothing at all. She absolutely hated the now-common feeling of having incredibly important tasks and no way to do them, that high-strung chord in her that felt like any minute movement set it off. She didn’t want to train with Kaito while she felt so on edge, but sitting around doing nothing felt like torture.

Kaede groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose, throwing her legs over the side of the couch and sitting up straight. Whenever she felt this stressed in the past, whether it be some major recital she had to perform or a big assignment for school she’d completely forgotten about in favor of her music, she had a reliable getaway that let her unwind her worries away and clear her head enough to think through things without getting overwhelmed. Her oldest and one of her dearest friends. The instrument that she’d practically built her life around.

The same one that killed her.

Kaede grit her teeth. _ “No. Don’t think about that. Just… I don’t know, what do people usually do to relax? Watch TV?” _She forced herself to shake her head, picking up the remote and turning it on to find Monokuma on a stage with a spotlight shining down on him and a microphone clutched in his paw.

“_ You know, the other day, I saw a blind girl get hit by a bus. It was pretty sad… I mean, she never saw it coming! Not like me. In fact, I sped up when I saw her! Bwahahahahaha! _” The bear cackled psychotically. Kaede scowled and turned it back off, tossing the remote on the couch.

“Stupid jerk…” She muttered to herself. _ “No way I’m watching that. Maybe I could see a couple more episodes of Notes of Nevermore… no, wait, too much piano… ugh! Come on, Kaede! Stop messing around and just do _ ** _something _ ** _ already!” _She fumed at herself. The blonde just wanted to do something stimulating, anything at all to distract her from her thoughts. Without even bothering to come up with a particular destination, Akamatsu stood up and walked out the door. She didn’t really pay attention to where she was going, or how fast or slow she went. As long as she could focus on the feeling of movement, she was satisfied. In a way, it wasn’t that different from her nervous pacing earlier in the day, only stuck with a slightly less horrible set of thoughts in her mind and a bit more consciousness of her surroundings as she at least noticed when she started walking up to the second deck. Kaede simply followed wherever her feet led her without complaint.

After some time, though, she stopped in her tracks. The long halls of the ship were becoming somewhat familiar to her already, but Kaede didn’t realize exactly where she was going until she was already there. Her jaw hung open as she stared wide eyed at the door to her lab, unsure what -if anything- she should do. It was like a cruel joke. She’d walked all that way to clear her head, and yet her subconscious had led her right back to the one she wanted to do yet was also more terrified of than anything else. For a long moment, she simply stood there, feeling her body tense at the mere sight of the themed door. Kaede tried to turn around and walk away… but found her legs wouldn’t obey. Instead, she took a step forward. Then another. The pianist stopped in shock, blinking at her own actions as what sounded like a drum continued to beat faster and faster in her mind. As it continued, that sound became like a warcry, turning the fearful tension into a fire in her very soul.

_ “No… no more. I… I won’t be scared anymore! I’m getting over this, right here and now!” _ She thought to herself, her hands balling tightly into fists as she felt a burst of courage. Before she realized it, Kaede marched up to the door and opened it, stepping into the room specially designed for her. In an instant, the hammering silenced, a deathly quiet filling her lab. The determination swelling in her chest felt like it morphed yet again, an unshakable sense of unease clashing with her resolve. She didn’t know how long she stood there before she finally felt brave enough to take a step towards the patiently waiting piano in the middle of the room like a sleeping dragon. Almost robotically, Kaede felt her legs hesitantly take another step every few seconds, as if moving too quickly would make the instrument attack her. Eventually, though, the firm wood of the bench pressed against her legs before she ultimately took a seat. Not a sound filled the room as she looked down at the rows of white and black, her stomach twisting as she gulped down her fear.

“Okay… okay, this is really happening. You can do this, Kaede. You’ve been doing it practically from birth. You can do it. Just… just like old times…” She whispered to herself, still staring down at the keys. She raised her hands to play… only to find herself shaking even harder than before. It seemed to get worse the more she took in the sight until she looked away with a gasp, staring up at the ceiling. Gradually, she felt them stiffen partially, though it was still like her entire body was vibrating. Kaede swallowed once again. “... O-okay. Looking at the keys makes it worse. So… so I won’t. Just play on memory, okay? Just start with something simple. Like… like C Major. Yeah, that will work…” 

The pianist took in a deep, shaking breath as she blindly positioned her trembling hands over the keys, eyes clenched tighter than a vise. The old ivory was cool to the touch when she finally worked up the courage to press down on one of them just enough to trace along them with her fingertips. The subtle dips and grooves on their surface, entirely unnoticeable to anyone without years and years of experience with the instrument, were a bittersweet sensation to her. She always loved getting familiar with a new piano specifically because of those minor details. Imagining how each of those little bumps and cuts came to be helped her come up with narratives and emotions she could put into her music. She'd come up with her own backstories and personalities for keys depending on her mood at the time and the unique quirks in the design each one had. When she was especially young, she would pretend they were her friends. For a lonely little girl without any friends and a geeky interest, those made up stories were the closest thing she had to real emotional connections for years. Now, though, each key her fingers cautiously glided over felt like it was rigged to explode if she dared touch it too hard, merely lying in wait to finish her off for good. 

Even with that dread, however, getting her hands into position for the C Major scale without looking was the definition of child's play for her. Kaede's fingers hovered silently above the rows of white for several long moments while the blonde prepared herself for what could come next. Given that the mere thought of pianos had been enough to make her sick to her stomach with fear, actually _ playing _the instrument would probably be like playing Russian Roulette with five rounds loaded. Kirumi would probably blow a gasket if she knew what the pianist was doing at that moment, but the fact was she couldn't run forever. No, she refused to. Kaede Akmatsu was an Ultimate, the best in the world. She was supposed to be the epitome of capability, just like all her friends and peers were for their crafts. Their crafts that, despite almost certainly being involved in their executions as well, they still embraced to the fullest. How could she claim to be able to stand up for them if she couldn't even stand on equal footing with them? If her friends could still enjoy their talents after suffering the same fate as her, then she had no excuse. Those were the justifications swirling in her mind as she took a deep breath, counted to three, and pressed down on C.

The sound of the hammer striking the equivalent chord rang out throughout the suffocatingly quiet room like a gunshot. Her hand shot away as if it had been burned while the note hung simmering in the air for a few seconds, slowly fizzling out like a dying candle. A beat passed before she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head as she felt a humiliated heat rise to her cheeks. "Come on, don't be stupid…" She muttered under her breath, hating how childish she felt at that moment. She made a fist as she readied herself once more and managed to dance her fingers across D, E, F, and G before her hand started trembling too much for her to play. 

Kaede shakily guided her hands to her rapidly thumping heart. "Okay… that was a little better," The blonde whispered to herself over the lump in her throat. Baby steps were still steps, she supposed. Impatience had always been a weakness of hers, but as much as it killed her to do so, it was abundantly clear she would have to take it slow. Once the shaking came to a stop and her heart slowed down, Akamatsu chose to take it from the top, stopping and restarting the melody as needed. She continued like that for a while. Sometimes she could get through most of the melody before it became too much, while other times, she couldn't make it past the first note. She wasn't sure how long she sat there experimenting with the same few keys over and over. In a way, it was a return to form for her to lose herself amidst the swirling notes, though those memories of her younger days tended to be much happier and energetic compared to the slightly melancholic relearning she was forcing herself through at the moment.

Kaede didn't notice the first time she finally managed to complete the motion, or the second. The realization didn't strike her until halfway through the third following attempt. It was surprising enough to make her miss the timing on the next key, but that didn't matter. She stared at her hands in delighted shock, relieved to find only the slightest quiver affecting them. A triumphant grin slowly spread across her face as she idly mimed the notes in the air before positioning them back over the ivory and completing the sequence one last time. "There we go! I've still got it!" She proudly proclaimed. Perhaps a bit of an overreaction considering that all she had done was play the piano’s simplest scale a few times, but given all she'd gone through, it felt like she had the world in her palm. 

And, for some time, she did. Notes gradually came to fill the air like stars in the night sky as she carefully fiddled with the rows of white and black, playing whatever notes came to her in the heat of the moment. It was far from her best work; the timing was completely off, she held some notes too long and others too short to sound pleasing, and her freeform had never been quite as good as performing existing pieces anyways, but that couldn't have mattered less to her at that moment. What mattered was the fact that, despite the cold sweat on her brow and her body feeling like it was ready to completely revolt, her fear wasn't the most dominant thing in her mind. It was there, of course, churning in her gut like butter and screaming at her to run back to the safety of her room, but more than that was the determination to keep going; a raging fire in her that roared to push it as far as she could go. 

This same fire, at some point, convinced her that playing an old melody she composed when she was first starting out with classical arrangements. She knew it mostly by muscle memory at this point, often forgetting the individual songs she put into it until she actually started playing them. As it was designed for beginners, the piece was largely composed of rather simple songs. Prelude in E Min, Claire De Lune, Canon in D, Minuet in G, Blue Danube, and more, all relatively simple to play, and even had a couple of her favorites among them. Her fingers gracefully danced across the keys, shifting from song to song with practiced ease. Pride gleamed in her grin. Finally, she was back to being herself! Screw Monokuma and his tricks; she was the Ultimate Pianist, and nobody could take that from her! She moved her hand over the next set of keys on instinct as she finished Blue Danube. As she recalled, the next track largely consisted of flats, so it should have been simple. Exceedingly so, even.

The moment she pressed the fifth note, however, she felt the world drop out from under her. She missed the next note _ hard _, a discordant crash that shattered the flow of the piece, but that was the last thing in the world on her mind. Kaede felt herself break out in a cold sweat. The Flea Waltz. Of course. How could she have forgotten she included that damned song?! She could still hear it playing in the back of her mind, notes punctuated by Monokuma's sadistic laughter. Kaede's hands shook violently, like leaves in a hurricane of dread and horror that howled in her ears louder and louder the longer she stared at the keys. Her throat constricted against her will while her mouth became a desert. The pianist's heart hammered like a metronome from hell, threatening to beat right out of her chest. She tried steadying her right hand by grabbing it with her left only to find that she couldn't get her fingers to bend with how badly they were trembling. 

Despite all that, however, it wasn't until she realized she hadn't taken a single breath in the last thirty seconds that she finally yanked back from the instrument with a desperate gasp. She stumbled over the bench as she tried to put some distance between herself and the piano, only making it about two feet away before a flash of fiery agony across her neck had her hands flying to her throat to pull off a nonexistent noose.

Her eyes burned with tears as she hacked and sputtered for air. Akamatsu blinked, and suddenly she was in the execution chamber, staring at her friends' horrified faces and incoming rocks from the jeering crowd of Monokumas. Terror overwhelmed her, a soundless scream trying to claw its way out of her, coming out as little more than a desperate, barely audible hiss amidst her choked down gasps and sobs. Indescribable pain consumed her entire body and mind. The collar refused to budge an inch no matter how tightly she pulled against it as it squeezed the life out of her little by little, dragging her along the scales like a ragdoll all while stones pelted her mercilessly. She had just enough air to stay conscious for every anguishing moment of her execution, leaving her in a hellish cycle of being ready to pass out but in too much pain to finally slip through the cracks. Every fiber of her being was screaming out for mercy, but a dark, sickeningly calm part of her mind idly noted that she wouldn't receive it. This was it. Even as the world started to fade to black and the pain finally ebbed into a dull, omnipresent numbness, she knew what was happening.

Kaede Akamatsu was dying all over again. 

***

_ "Hard." _

That was the first thought Kaede formed when feeling returned to her body. Something beneath her was decidedly hard and uncomfortable. She ached dully from head to toe, feeling stiff as a board and as weak as a noodle. The second thing she realized was that her face felt wet and sore. The blonde let out a low, murmuring groan, weakly putting a hand to her cheek to find that it warm and damp. "Ugh… wh…" Her words were cut off by a raspy cough that made her mouth feel like sandpaper. _ "... Huh…? What… where am I?" _The pianist struggled to think, her mind sluggish and flashing enough pain to make her wince. Opening her eyelids was a herculean task, taking every bit of what little strength she felt to manage. When she finally managed it, Kaede blearily recognized that she was laying on the wood flooring of her lab, a small puddle of drool slowly drying next to her lips. Kaede blinked. Her lab? Why would she sleep in her lab, let alone on the floor...?

The blonde shakily forced herself to her feet, stumbling so badly she nearly fell face first on the floor again with her first step and forcing her to grab onto the piano bench for support. It felt like a thick fog had descended over her mind, making it hard to even think. Her lab… how did she get here? She didn’t remember going to the room. Her brow furrowed deeply as she tried to recall what she was doing last, only worsening as it kept coming up blank. _ “... I feel like I was doing something important, but…” _Kaede tried to piece together through the cloud in her head. Dinner had been at least a few hours prior… after that, she went on a walk and ended up playing the… the…

Kaede glanced up at the row of keys in front of her, and suddenly, it clicked. She felt her stomach drop out from her half a second before her legs did the same, the pianist tumbling to the ground as terror gripped her body. She frantically scampered away from her once adored instrument, feeling herself beginning to hyperventilate. No, no, how could she have been stupid enough to think this was a good idea?! She was _ executed by hanging _while playing piano, and she thought she could just sit down and get over it?! Self-directed fury mixed with primal fear as she stared up at the piano from the ground like it was a preying lion about to lunge out and kill her again. Her throat constricted painfully, her entire body quivering.

Logically, she knew it couldn’t hurt her. It was an inanimate object that didn’t even have the ability to make noise by itself. These reasonable thoughts, however, could barely peek out above the torrent of fear in her heart and mind. She grabbed onto those thoughts for dear life as she fell back into the same rabbit hole of horror she’d presumably passed out from the first time. Her neck felt like it was burning, hot and sore to the touch that flared every time her fingertips brushed against it. Her body rocked with each forceful inhale and unsteady exhale. Through it all, the only thing letting her be anything remotely close to calm was her own desperate logic. If the piano couldn’t do anything, it couldn’t hurt her. If it couldn’t hurt her, it couldn’t be killing her right now. If it wasn’t killing her, she wasn’t actually dying. It was a pitiful comfort that barely worked for nightmares, let alone _ whatever the hell _was happening to her right then and there, but the almost childish deduction felt like the only thing keeping her sane amidst the chaos of her mind.

Eventually, she found enough strength to force herself to speak. "N-no... s-stop… y-you're fine… you're alive… it’s not real... just... breathe..." She gasped out in between rough and rugged breaths. Being able to hear it out loud made it slightly more believable than just saying it in her mind, at least. Over and over, the words shakily escaped her lips, devolving from a series of logical statements to an almost prayer-like chant. By the time she finally managed to steady herself at least a little bit, her fists were clenched tightly into her skirt in a vain attempt to stop their uncontrollable tremors.

Kaede could still feel her heart hammering in her chest, even if it was only just starting to slow ever so slightly, but she at least felt confident enough to try to stand. She shakily forced herself to her knees and subsequently her feet once she was sure she wouldn’t sprawl out on the floor if she tried to take a step. The pianist could still feel herself quivering a little, the rancid taste of bile in the back of her mouth and aching eyes lingering from her episode like a phantom limb. Most of it was a blur now, nothing but a feeling of almost animalistic fear and terror, but the gist of what happened was clear. Kaede grit her teeth, holding herself so tightly that it hurt. Like always, she arrogantly assumed she could just power through her problems and everything would be okay, because that had worked so well for her before with the mastermind, hadn’t it? Rantaro was just _ thrilled _ to get her kind of _ solution _. 

At least the only one suffering from her stupidity this time was herself. Akamatsu didn’t dare look back at the instrument behind her as she all but stumbled out of the room. Sleep was basically out of the question at this point -she doubted her dreams would be pleasant even if she could somehow fall asleep any time soon after _ that _\- but going to her room was basically the only thing she could do. There was no way in hell she could tell anyone about this. It was bad enough Tsumugi, Hifumi, Gundham and Kaito had already seen a glimpse of how badly broken she was deep down. Something like this? That would completely destroy whatever credibility she had. How could anyone believe in someone that could be reduced to a sobbing, shaking mess by a few notes literally anyone slightly familiar with piano knew by heart? She had to be strong for everyone. She couldn’t be so weak. Not again.

Kaede slowly trudged through the halls, careful not to stray too far from the walls, lest she lose her balance and fall yet again. She had no clue what time it was other than night, given the pitch blackness just beyond the windows of the ship. Hopefully, it was late enough that everyone else had already gone to bed. With luck, they’d just dismissed her disappearance as going to bed early, rather than assuming the worst had happened. Her current state wouldn’t be easy to explain away even without people instantly assuming she must have been attacked. The best thing that could happen was she avoided everyone else, got back to her room, and came up with some sort of plan for how to handle everything the next day. She was still pretty far away from her sanctuary, only about halfway down the ludicrously long hall from her lab to Sakura’s plus the much shorter trek from there down the staircase and finally back to her room, but it should have been a simple journey.

Naturally, it had to be that exact moment that Mondo chose to explode out of Kirumi’s lab just ten feet away from her, the biker throwing the door open with enough force to leave a thunderous ** _BAM _ **as it impacted the wall.

Kaede jumped with a startled yelp, staring at the fearsome Ultimate in shock. “M-Mondo?! What are you doing here?” She called out on instinct, regretting it almost instantly as he suddenly swerved and laid his fiery gaze on her. The pianist felt her hair stand up as she stared back into his snake-like yellow eyes alight with fury. She’s seen Mondo angry. She’d even seen him furious. Neither of those words came close to describing the pure seething rage radiating off his entire body. His lips twisted into a harsh sneer.

“WHERE IS HE?!”

Kaede stared at him in complete bafflement, too caught by surprise to worry about her ruined plan. “What? Who are you looking f-”

Owada slammed a fist against the wall. “HIFUMI! WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT FAT BASTARD?! TELL ME, GODDAMNIT!” He demanded with a snarl.

Kaede threw her hands up defensively.”I-I don’t know! I haven’t seen him since dinner!” She blurted out before she could think of why he would want to know. The muscular monolith of a man growled, turning away from her and powering his way down the hall. The pianist stayed frozen in place for a few seconds before her senses rushed back to her, shaking her head frantically and chasing after the rapidly escaping gangster. “H-hey! Wait! Mondo!” She called out, breaking into an awkward run. Despite not having much of an initial head start, between his longer strides and anger-fueled power walking, Mondo had a solid lead on her. He didn’t have any intention of stopping either, completely ignoring her calls and pleas for him to stop. Owada was already at the door to Sakura's lab when Kaede arrived, trying his hardest to open the door even as it remained firmly in place. “Mondo, stop!” She demanded yet again, only to be completely ignored by him.

"OPEN THE FUCK UP, GODDAMN DOOR!" Mondo yelled out in anger as the door held firm. Upon being ignored once more, Kaede's patience snapped, as she reached out and grabbed Mondo by the arm.

“MONDO!”

_ That _caught his attention. Mondo spun around in an instant, glowering down at the girl with an enraged glare. “The fuck do you want?!” He spat out roughly. It took a considerable amount of effort on Kaede’s part not to flinch.

“To know what the hell is going on, for starters! What did Hifumi do, and what do you want with him?” She demanded. Owada’s glare deepened.

“I ain’t gotta tell you jack shit. Fuck off!” He growled as he tried to pull out of her grasp, making Kaede’s grip tighten. Kaede’s eyes narrowed in determination even as she felt her heartbeat begin to quicken.

“Not until you tell me what’s happening! What did he do that’s so bad?!”

Kaede seemed to strike a nerve with that. “What’s so bad? HOW ‘BOUT THE FACT THAT HE **FUCKIN’ KILLED TAKA?!** ” He roared, looking at her as if she asked the stupidest question in the world. She couldn’t hold back her flinch this time, pulling back a little, but keeping a firm grip on his arm as he tried pulling away yet again. Mondo’s fists clenched as the words seemed to make him even more angry. “ **HE KILLED MY FUCKIN’ FRIEND! ** ** _MY BEST FRIEND! _ ** **SO NOW THAT WORTHLESS LARD OF SHIT IS GONNA FUCKIN’ PAY!**”

Kaede felt like she’d just been drenched with ice water, her blood going cold in her veins. Oh, _ fuck _ . She’d been so focused on people from other games distrusting each other that she never considered they might have killed _ each other’s _ friends. She… she had no idea how to solve _ that _ ! There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about people that were already dead! What in the world was she supposed to do?! “Wh-what do you mean by that?” She asked, despite knowing all too well _ exactly _what he meant. The pianist subconsciously sized up the biker, hoping and praying for any hint in his body language that would tell her she was wrong, but that hope died the moment she noticed a weapon clutched in his other hand. Mondo held a formidably sized dumbbell with enough ease that it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him effortlessly swinging the thing for a workout… or caving someone’s skull in. Her heart seized, mouth going dry as she looked back into his eyes and found all her worst fears confirmed. She had no idea where he’d gotten it, but he had a weapon, an opportunity, and a motive that would have driven just about anyone over the edge. The killing game would start tonight...

…

… If she let it.

“N-no…” Kaede refused, her voice barely a whisper. Half a second later, it was as if a bolt of lightning struck her, confidence and determination swelling in her chest like a woman possessed. She pressed her fingers as tightly into Mondo’s coat as she could manage. “No! I won’t let you! I won’t let you get yourself or anyone else killed!”

The biker growled at her. “Back the fuck off. _ NOW _. I ain’t in the fuckin’ mood for this bullshit! Don’t be a goddamn idiot!”

Kaede held her ground, any fear she should have felt seeming to fuel her resolve. “No! I’m sorry about your friend, Mondo. I truly, truly am. But you can’t do this! Do you think _ he _would have wanted this?!”

“_He’s fuckin _**_DEAD_** ‘cause of that fat asshole! Whatever the hell he wanted died with him! Only thing I can do is settle the fuckin’ score!” Owada hissed, trying yet again to break free.

Kaede’s fierce stare unwaveringly challenged the Ultimate Gang Leader’s own. “That’s not true! He might be gone, but he’d want his wish to live on without him through the people he cared about! That means _ you _, Mondo! You know what you’re doing isn’t right!”

Mondo bared his teeth at her, his glare dark and hateful. "I swear to Christ, Kaede, if you don't let the fuck go of me _ right now _I'll-"

"You'll kill me? No, you won't, but you'll kill Hifumi if I do! I'm not going to let that happen!" She interrupted harshly, tugging on his arm with all her might. Feeling more courage than she'd felt in her entire life, she shoved a finger directly into Mondo's chest. "You aren't going to hurt me, Mondo. Deep down, I don’t think you really want to kill Hifumi, either. I know you can be stronger than that! I know you're not that _ weak! _"

In a moment, everything became still. Not a single sound dared break the silence. Mondo stopped resisting her hold, becoming stiffer than she thought humanly possible. He wasn't looking at her anymore, instead staring down at her hand on his arm intently as his hair covered up his face almost completely. After several painfully long seconds, she saw his already tight body-language become even more rigid. So quietly that Kaede barely even heard, he whispered, "... What the _ fuck _do you know about being strong?"

Kaede flinched. He had her there, didn't he? Even if he didn’t know it, he’d hit a soft spot. How could she lecture anyone about strength when she was so weak that she took advantage of Shuichi’s kindness to commit murder? The pianist's face softened guiltily. "I'm sorry, Mondo. I just-"

Something slammed into her back _ hard _ , a stunned gasp escaping her in a mixture of shock and pain. Half a second later, she realized what she felt was actually the wall, the pianist having been shoved against it harshly. She blinked in surprise at a furious Mondo, his fist clenched around the dumbell to the point of whitening his knuckles. “HUH?! **FUCKIN’ ANSWER ME, YOU BITCH! **WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?! YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERY GODDAMN THING ABOUT ME ‘CAUSE WE BOTH KILLED SOMEONE?!” He roared, hellfire in his eyes. Terror filled Kaede as she stared up at him.

“M-Mondo?! N-no! I don’t mean-” She pleaded, only to get cut off.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU WANNA KNOW WHERE TRYIN’ TO BE STRONG GOT ME?! IT GOT DAIYA KILLED! GOT CHIHIRO KILLED! GOT TAKA ** _FUCKING KILLED!_ ** ” Owada howled as he marched up to her like a monolith of death. “AND YOU WANNA SIT THERE TALKIN’ ABOUT HOW ** _WEAK_ ** I AM FOR WANTIN’ TO GET RID OF THE SONUVABITCH THAT MURDERED MY BEST FRIEND?! PRETENDIN’ YOU’RE ANY FUCKIN’ BETTER THAN ME, WHEN YOU DID THE SAME SHIT?! PRETENDIN’ YOU’RE ANY ** _STRONGER _ ** THAN ME?! ** _FUCK! YOU!_ **”

Kaede’s heart hammered like a wardrum in her ears, fear rushing over her senses like a tsunami over a lone island in the sea. Every fibre of her being was screaming at her to run, but she was absolutely petrified, her legs refusing to heed the warning of clear incoming danger. She could barely force herself to choke out, “M-Mondo, please! Calm down! Y-you’re really scaring me!”

“SCARIN’ YA?! THAT SOMETHIN A ** _WEAKLIN’ _ ** COULD DO?!” The biker bellowed, barely arm’s-length away from her. His right arm raised into the air, the dull metal of the dumbell glinting slightly in the artificial light. “NO! YER SCARED BECAUSE I! AM! ** _STRONG!”_ **

It was at that moment Kaede Akamatsu realized she was about to die. She was about to be killed on some godforsaken boat by one of her friends in a blind rage, and either he or everyone else aboard would die soon after. She’d arrogantly assumed she could just make friends with everyone and everything would be okay, never once stopping to think that not everyone would have planned their murders like she did. It never occurred to her that someone might just snap during an argument and end someone’s life in a moment of weakness, like what was about to happen to her. This wasn’t going to be some grand heroic sacrifice or atonement for her sins like her execution had been. There would be no one to see her demise as a warning for what awaited murderers like her, or inspire someone to carry her wish forward, or anything of the sort. She was going to die alone, except for Mondo, who didn’t even seem to realize what he was doing. He was going to kill her, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do but wait for it to happen. It was at that same moment she realized something else that set it apart from her last fate, something that she felt throughout her entire body and in her very soul.

Kaede Akamatsu didn’t want to die.

“No! No! _ NONONO! _ MONDO! STOP! **PLE**-”

The dumbbell swung down with all the power Mondo could muster, hitting its mark with a sickening _ crunch _, and the room fell silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To that one commenter who said they shipped Mondo and Kaede because of this fic... I am SO sorry, dude.  
-Mr Cynical


	9. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Deadly Life Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first body is discovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Kept you waiting, huh? Well, I'll be completely honest, this chapter has the potential to be very controversial, but both CSpratt and I felt this was the best direction for the story to go. We both put a hell of a lot of thought before putting any of this to paper, and we're proud of what we've got here. With that said, we hope you enjoy, and look forward to your responses!  
-MrCynical

_ “I can't give up! It'd be a crappy story if the hero gave up so easily! _

_ All you guys are working hard, so I can't just sit back and relax! _

_ It's just...I'm happy you guys wanna save me, but stay safe, okay?" _

***

Kaito tapped his foot impatiently as he checked the clock for the millionth time that minute. Eleven-fifteen, just like it had been when he checked it five seconds prior. The astronaut scowled. Seriously, what was taking Kaede so long?! She was already practically an hour late to training! Sure, she mentioned wanting some time to think after dinner, but that was hours ago! What could she possibly be thinking about so hard that it took that long to solve, yet she didn’t want to bring up to the Luminary of the Stars? She was his sidekick, after all! It was his job to help her with this kind of stuff, even if he wasn’t as great as Shuichi at solving mysteries and crap! She should know she could trust him with whatever was on her mind!

“... Screw waiting! She probably just lost track of time! Just gotta go remind her, and we’re good to go!” The astronaut declared boisterously to the empty room. Sure, he was the only one in the room right now, but that just meant he could practice his pep-talking on himself! Launching up from the couch, he purposefully strolled out of his room and over to Kaede’s dorm down the hall before ringing the doorbell. And ringing it again. And once again after that. Patience was a virtue, but as virtuous as Kaito was, he saw no point in wasting time waiting for problems to solve themselves when he could just handle it himself. Just like the first night they spent on the ship, he quickly transitioned into knocking and ringing the bell at the same time. “Yo, Kaede, it’s me! C’mon, sidekick, we’ve got training, remember?” He called out, figuring she’d step out any second now. At the very least, she’d get annoyed enough to tell him to stop. Operation: Maki Roll had yet to fail him, after all.

After what must have been a full minute of that, though, she still hadn’t come out. That was… pretty weird. There’s no way she didn’t hear him if she was in there, unless she was a _ really _heavy sleeper… except… Kaito’s lips thinned. Kaede did seem kind of out of it during dinner, and Chiaki mentioned the pianist was pretty tired before hand. Maybe she was stressed out because of the motives, and trying to catch some sleep? He couldn’t blame her for that, but that still sucked. She shouldn’t let that stupid crap get to her! But… well, if she was that tired, she wouldn’t be able to focus on training, anyway. Kaito sighed as he stepped away from her room. Fine, then. He’d just have to train for both of them!

The lights were still on, as per Gundham’s verbose boasting. He might be a cocky bastard of a villain, but he was at least a man of his word. The makings of a worthwhile rival, if he kept proving himself to Momota. It definitely made things easier on him as he strutted up the stairway to the second deck. He stripped off his iconic jacket once he reached the summit of the stairs, tossing it to the side as slammed his fists. _ “Alright! If I’m doing this by myself, I don’t have to hold back! Let’s go with… got it! Routine D-Five-Three!” _Kaito confidently decided. It was basically just a more intense version of his usual workout routine, but there was no way Shuichi or Kaede could manage it yet. He started simple, dropping to the ground and getting into position for some pushups. He didn’t bother holding back the grin that broke across his face as he got into the groove of it. Being able to work out as hard as he wanted without throwing up a fistful of blood afterwards was incredibly satisfying.

Just a few minutes into it, however, a strange rumbling sound reached his ears. It was low and indistinct, impossible to make out anything beyond its presence. Even then, Kaito wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t imagining it. He ignored it at first in favor of focusing on the workout until it eventually grew too loud to ignore, the indistinct murmurings growing into muffled yells. It was obvious something was up at that point, forcing Kaito to stop his routine in favor of investigating to see what was going on. He walked at a casual pace, not wanting to tip off whoever was messing around. Stealth wasn’t his usual choice, but it seemed like maybe Shuichi and Maki were onto something with all that talk about subtlety. Better to sneak up on them than have them manage to slip through his fingers like the mastermind had, at least. 

That _ was _the plan, anyway, until a terrified scream pierced the silence of the night as it echoed through the halls before suddenly falling unnaturally silent. It caught Kaito completely off guard, the astronaut stunned in place by it. For a brief moment, his mind leapt to ghosts haunting the boat like one of those stupid old urban legends. A quarter of a second later, though, a much grimmer explanation came to mind and his instincts kicked in. Momota launched to his feet, tearing down the vast halls as fast as his legs could carry him. No way in hell was he letting someone get hurt while he was around! He was Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, Ultimate Astronaut and hero to all! If he had to kick some would-be killer’s ass to save someone, so be it! He rounded the corner where it sounded like the scream came from, a pair of figures coming into view just a little ways away. “Hey! What in the hell’s going-”

Kaito’s words died in his throat as he took in the sight in front of him, his mind refusing to accept what he was looking at. No… no way. This couldn’t be real. There was no way in _ hell _ he could really be seeing this. “K-Kaede…? Mondo? What…” Confused disbelief erupted into fiery anger almost instantly, his fists clenching painfully tight as his expression warped in rage. “WHAT THE _ HELL _DID YOU DO?!”

***

**A Few Minutes Prior...**

An almost complete dead silence weighed over the vast corridor like a choking fog, suffocating anything that would dare to speak up. The only noise permerating the hall was Mondo’s shuddering, rasping breaths, his broad shoulders heaving with each deep exhale. His grip on the dumbbell slowly went lax, his deathly hold on it slipping more and more until he dropped it to the floor with a sharp ** _clink_ ** . His anger faded more and more with every breath like a spirit leaving his body until he finally let out one last sigh, blinking as he came out of his blind rage. The moment he took in the sight in front of him, however, grief and horror filled him to an even greater degree than his murderous rage had mere moments prior. For one of the few times in his life, tears reached Mondo Owada’s eyes, his hands trembling in shock. His mouth went dry and his legs seemed to fail him, buckling beneath the biker as a choked sob rumbled from deep within him. “Oh… no, fuck, oh god… fuck, I’m so sorry… I’m so, _ so fucking sorry _…”

There before him laid Kaede Akamatsu, slumped down the wall from where she once stood, her eyes still wide with terror. The dumbbell idly rolled next to her, making a soft thud as it bumped into the wall. She sat so very still, completely in contrast to the happy, energetic girl she’d always been. Now, though, the Ultimate Pianist could only sit there, staring at the broken man that tried to kill her.

Tried, because Kaede Akamatsu was still very much alive, and very much afraid.

Terror gripped Kaede’s heart, freezing the girl in place and trapping her in her own mind. She could feel her body tremble around her, so subtle that someone likely wouldn’t notice at first glance. She was alive. _ Barely _. If Mondo had shifted his aim by even half an inch, her skull would likely resemble the caved-in bit of wall he’d slammed the dumbbell against with all his might. Kaede had been so shocked, so convinced that she was going to die, that all she could do was fall to the ground, as if he actually had struck her, completely paralyzed with fear. 

Her heartbeat roared in her ears, thrashing in her chest so violently it felt like it would break her ribs. Her throat was agonizingly tight, refusing to let any sound out and barely any air in while her hands shook violently by her sides, obscured by her legs. She couldn’t have stopped it even if she wanted to. Adrenaline flooded her system, sending her already panicking mind a thousand miles a minute. She couldn’t believe it. He… he almost killed her. Mondo almost _ killed _ her! He _ would have _, too, if his aim was even a little bit better! He… he…

… He could still kill her, too. Mondo was tough even without a weapon. He could strangle her to death without even trying, or punch her until she stopped breathing, or pick up the dumbbell again and finish her off, or any other number of horrible things all without breaking a sweat. The panic coursing through her system left her less like the kindhearted and composed leader and friend she was and more like a cornered animal fighting for its life. In her frenzied mind, she didn’t see a broken and weeping man begging for forgiveness. She saw a dangerous threat that had tried to kill her already, and still had every capability to do it. His whimpered apologies were mute compared to the thunderous beating of her heart. He tried to kill her. He could _ still _ kill her. He… he **would **kill her… unless she didn’t let him.

**BA-DUMP.**

There was no way she could run away from him when he was right there. If she tried, he’d kill her. Escape wasn’t an option.

**BA-DUMP.**

She couldn’t fight him, either. Mondo was huge. There was no way he wouldn’t win if she tried punching or scratching him. If she wanted any hope of surviving this, she needed something that would let her win instantly.

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

Kaede’s dilated eyes slowly drifted to the dumbbell, the thing that almost killed her now laying harmlessly against her hip and the wall. After a moment, she glanced back to Mondo kneeling in front of her, staring at the ground in overwhelming shame.

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

She could do this.

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

She _ had _ to do this. She didn’t want to die here. She _ couldn’t _ die here. Her quivering hand slowly moved towards the dumbbell.

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

The cool metal felt like ice as her fingers shakily wrapped around the grip. It was heavy, almost as much as the shot put ball, but she didn’t need to lift it for long. One swing, and she’d be safe. One swing, and he’d never be able to hurt her again. She could survive.

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

The terrified woman tightened her grip. Just one swing...

**BADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMP-**

“Hey! What in the hell’s going- K-Kaede…? Mondo? What… WHAT THE _ HELL _DID YOU DO?!” A familiar voice roared out to her right, and in an instant, a switch flipped. 

It was like Kaede was doused in ice water, her eyes going wide as Kaito’s voice knocked her back to reality. She stared at the dumbbell in her hand, heavy and cold, and instantly felt sick to her stomach. Bile rose in her throat as ice water rushed through her veins, the pianist yanking her hand away as if she’d been burned. She felt completely hollow and yet drowning in regret all at once. _ “Oh… oh my god. No… no way. I… I almost… I almost _ ** _killed _ ** _ him! What… what the hell is wrong with me?!” _

“Answer me, damn it! What did you do?!” Kaito demanded as he stomped towards them with a snarl. Kaede couldn’t bring herself to look at him, though, eyes locked solely on Mondo. The biker was completely unresponsive, tears wordlessly falling to the ground between heaving breaths. Kaede’s gut twisted, her heart sinking. He… he wasn’t a threat. He didn’t even realize what was going on around him! Yes, he’d nearly done something very, _ very _ bad… but she nearly did the same. She nearly killed a man begging on his knees for forgiveness, just so she could be sure she’d get away. She almost took a friend’s life _ again _ . Tears pricked in Kaede’s eyes. She hadn’t learned a _ goddamn thing _from Rantaro’s death, had she?

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Akamatsu croaked out, her voice thick and wet with misery. She buried her face in her shaking hands, sobbing into them as the tears began to fall. “I’m so, so sorry…”

“Kaede! You alright?! C’mon, let me help you up!” Kaito frantically called out, the pianist feeling him grip her shoulder and back before pulling up. Her legs sluggishly cooperated, her knees buckling at first and leaving her only supported by the astronaut’s hold until she sloppily managed to stand. “Are you hurt? Kaede…? Come on, say something!”

She slowly looked up at him with wet, blurry eyes, his lilac eyes alight with anger-tinted worry. After a moment, she managed to shake her head. “N-no… I’m fine. I… I…” The pianist couldn’t finish, trailing off as she stared down at Mondo. He hadn’t budged an inch, a statue of despair forever frozen in his own misery. Kaede’s heart broke all over again as a choked whine of anguish escaping her as the weight of the dumbbell settled in her gut.

Kaito completely misunderstood the cause of her distress. “... I can’t believe you! What kind of coward tries to kill a girl?!” Momota spat, glaring down at Owada with a sneer. Mondo flinched, but offered no resistance, only hanging his head lower. That only served to further enrage the astronaut as he pulled his hand back and slammed his fist against Mondo’s jaw. “Say something, you bastard!”

“Kaito! Stop!” Kaede shrieked, shoving him back with a tearful glare. He stumbled back with a blink, staring at her in pure confusion.

“Wh-what? Kaede?”

“Don’t hurt him!” Akamatsu hissed, anger mixing with her sickening regret and self-loathing. She swallowed thickly, her eyes slowly drifting back to the silent gangster. On some level, she knew she should hate him. He nearly killed her. The mere sight of him should fill her with fury and fear, leave her mind screaming at her to run away. To an extent, it did. Every hair she had stood on end, her throat constricting and mouth going dry as dread pooled in her stomach just from looking at the man. Nothing could ever take back what he nearly did to her…

… But nothing could change what she tried to do, either. Nothing would change the fact that she almost willingly took a life even after what she did to Rantaro. Whether he meant to or not, Mondo spared her life, and she’d wanted to repay that with murder. Kaede knew she was the worst kind of hypocrite; always setting standards for everyone else that she could never even dream of meeting herself, and she _ hated _ that. She _ hated _ how much of a fraud she was. So, to hate Mondo for that when she’d done the same? _ Pretending she was any stronger _… no. She couldn’t. Not without being an even worse person than she already was.

Gathering all the strength she could muster, Kaede forced herself to take a step forward despite every fibre of her being warning her not to. She could feel herself trembling even harder as she took another. There was a very real possibility that doing this would go wrong somehow. Not even ten minutes ago, this man had tried to bash her skull in. It would be safer to just run for her life while she could. No matter how logical a conclusion that was, though, it didn't hold a candle to the crushing guilt that consumed her mind and soul looking at the man she'd nearly murdered. She had to do this. For him. For herself. For Rantaro. She had to make amends for her fatal mistakes, and to atone for her weakness.

Kaede Akamatsu would never end another life again, even if that meant losing her own.

Kaito moved towards her, angling himself to get between her and Mondo, but she held up a hand with a pleading gaze. “Wait… please, just wait…” She all but begged, her voice sounding course and pitifully small. The astronaut’s features tensed with uncertain worry, shifting his gaze between her and the biker. After a long moment, he frowned, shifting his footing so he could bolt forward if need be but not advancing any further. Reassured, Kaede looked back to Mondo, taking a deep, shuddering breath, and kneeled down in front of him until they were eye to eye. His greyish-purple irises met hers for barely a moment before they shot to the ground in shame. She could only stare at him for a moment, the million different things she wanted to say to him suddenly disappearing from her mind. Ultimately, all she could manage was a tiny, frail reassurance. “... It… it’s okay. It’s okay…” Kaede repeated, as much for herself as it was for him.

Mondo’s jaw clenched, his teeth bared in a pained grimace. “... No. No, it fucking isn’t. You know that.”

Kaede cringed. She did… more than he could ever know. Akamatsu breathed deeply. “... I’m okay. You… you missed. We’re okay. We-”

“I could’ve fucking killed you! Don’t you get that?!” Mondo hissed, glaring up at her though tearful eyes. The anger flaming in his gaze slowly faded away, replaced with heart wrenching remorse. “You got lucky. _ I _got lucky. ‘Sides that, nothing’s fucking changed. I’m still as weak as I’ve ever been, and you almost paid for that. If I was an inch off... just… just go. Please. For your own good.”

Slowly, Kaede shook her head. “... I can’t do that, Mondo. I’m not abandoning you.”

Owada’s brow furrowed. “‘Abandonin’ me’? The hell are you talking about?”

“I… I know what it’s like to feel weak. To hurt someone you care about in the heat of the moment, and spend the rest of your life regretting it…” Kaede confessed, voice shaking slightly with emotion. She took a moment to steel herself, determination bleeding into her remorse and fear. “I’m weak. Maybe… maybe we both are. But we don’t have to be. I know we can be better than that. We can get stronger, but only if we stick together! If we do that, then… then, we’ll never be weak again. So… I’m not abandoning you, Mondo! That’s my promise!”

Kaede’s determined declaration hung in the air, the hall once again falling into dead silence in the wake of her words. Mondo stared at her in shock, eyes wide with disbelief. As the seconds dragged along in a deafening silence, his lips formed back into his earlier grimace. “... Why? Why the fuck would you ever want to see my face again, let alone be my _ friend _after somethin’ like that?” Mondo demanded, his voice tired and weary.

_ “Because that’s my punishment…” _ Kaede drearily thought. On the outside, she forced herself to meet his gaze. “Because I think- no, I _ know _we could be good friends if we tried. And… I want to be stronger. I can’t do that on my own. I don’t think anyone can. But… if we’re there for each other… I think we can do it. We’ve got a second chance here, Mondo. I really want you to take it with me.”

“... You’re already stronger than me. Even if you weren’t, I don’t deserve your help.” Mondo refused, old regrets painting his voice.

Before Kaede could respond, a growl rumbled out from behind her. “Are you serious?! Stop being a goddamn idiot!” Kaito roared out in fury, his fists clenched tightly as he glared at the biker with gritted teeth. Kaede scowled at him.

“Kaito-”

“No! I’m sick of this self-pitying bullshit!” Kaito interrupted fiercely. He jutted an accusing finger at Mondo. “You screwed up! Big time! We all know that! So stop crying about your problems already! Be a man and _ fix them _! Kaede’s handing you a golden opportunity, so don’t throw it away like a moron!”

Kaede felt shock and anger boil in her heat. “_ Kaito! _ What the _ hell _are you-”

“No. He’s right.”

Kaede blinked in surprise, turning back to find Mondo staring at the ground. “Huh? Mondo?”

“He’s right,” Owada repeated, finally looking back up at her with grim resolve. “What you said just now… that’s something my bro woulda told me. Ever since he died, these past few years… hell, my whole life, I’ve been too weak to stop runnin’ from my mistakes. I’ve been a fuckin’ angry moron every time I get a chance to change, and people I give a shit about get hurt because of it. Daiya… Daiya woulda been enough of a man to face it. _Chihiro_ was strong enough. Stronger than I could ever hope to be. I don’t deserve your help…” Mondo clenched his fists, breathing deeply before letting out a steady sigh. “... But I’m done letting pride get in the way. It’s about time I finally face it. No one else dies because of me. That’s a man’s promise...”

Kaede’s eyes went wide with shock. After a moment, she let out a long breath that drained the tension and worry from her shoulders and soul. Slowly, she rose to her feet, offering a hand to Mondo, determined to do this no matter how much she shook and trembled. She owed him that much. “_ We’ll _ face this. Together. I promise.” Kaede swore, her voice full of resolve. Owada looked at her outstretched hand for a long moment before reluctantly taking it.

“... Together.”

With that, Kaede helped Mondo to his feet, trying to ignore her quickening heartbeat as the biker towered over her once again. Devoid of the all-encompassing anger that consumed him earlier, however, all that remained was a weary shell of a man. A brief silence reigned over the hallway, neither quite sure what to say, if anything, before Katio spoke up again. “Kaede… are you sure about this?” He asked, his tone serious and eyes sharp as he contemplated the scene in front of him. Kaede had never seen the astronaut so dire as he was in that moment. 

Sucking in a quiet, steadying breath, she nodded. “Yes. I am.”

For a moment, Kaito simply looked at her, his expression unchanging. In an instant, his fists clenched tightly, his gaze brimming with determination as he pumped a fist in the air. “Then listen up! I, Kaito Momota, swear on my life to help you both! From now on, Mondo, you’re one of my sidekicks, whether you want to be or not! Your failures are my failures, my successes are your successes, and until I draw my last breath, I’ll have both of your backs no matter what! I won’t stop until you become the people you’re meant to be! Understand?!” Kaito roared, traces of his previous fury mixing with an unyielding determination.

Mondo’s eyes went wide. “Huh? Wait, why the hell’re you-”

“Kaede said she believes in you, and I believe in her! So that means I believe in you, too! Now come on! The march to redemption starts now!” Kaito dramatically declared with fire in his eyes. Mondo could only stare in shock, eventually muttering something under his breath that Kaede couldn’t quite catch, but offering no resistance to the astronaut.

Kaito’s burst of energy, however, only served to remind her of how exhausted she was, her entire body still aching from her flashbacks and her energy completely drained between that, Mondo’s attack, and the poisonous, shameful disgust at her would-be murder attempt. Weakly, she shook her head. “... It’s been a long, crazy night. Before we do anything, I think we should wait until the morning. Give everyone a chance to think and get some sleep, you know?”

Kaito’s fierce expression softened slightly, his lips curling downward, but he looked to the side in thought. “... Alright. Yeah. Better to make sure this works out in the long run than force it in one night, I guess.”

Mondo didn’t bother replying, silently taking the lead on the uncomfortably quiet march back to the dorms. Kaito was only a couple paces behind the biker while Kaede lingered closer to the back, their unspoken lineup ensuring Mondo couldn’t run away or attack the pianist again, though Akamatsu severely doubted he would do either at this point. The only delay was Kaito taking a moment to reclaim his haphazardly discarded coat, and once that was done, their silent trek resumed.

In the absence of conversation, her thoughts swam through her mind. In the span of fifteen minutes, she’d almost been murdered, almost _ committed _ murder, and then sworn to befriend the man at the center of both. Kaede learned more about herself in that one moment than she had in almost her entire life, but what she found, she despised. She hated the person at her core; a scared, vengeful murderer willing to slaughter and betray her friends when they least expected it. She hated that girl even more than she hated Monokuma and his sick game. She wanted to kill it. She _ would _kill it. No matter what it took, she would kill the vile person inside of her and become the kind, heroic girl her friends thought she was.

They eventually reached their dorms, though she was so lost in her thoughts yet again that she couldn’t tell how long it took. Mondo’s was the closest to the stairs, the biker lingering just outside his door. “... I guess this is goodnight…” Kaede said quietly, the normality of it feeling surreal after everything that happened. Gripping her arm to distract herself from the awkwardness, Kaede managed the barest a ghost of a smile. “... I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah. See you then…” Kaito nodded, though he lacked his usual boisterousness. The other man didn’t respond, merely opening his door without turning around. The pianist frowned slightly but didn’t push him any further. Pleasantries weren’t exactly the most important thing at that moment, after all. Without another word, Kaede continued down the hall towards her room in the eerie quiet of the night.

“Hey, wait a second,” Mondo’s voice suddenly rumbled from behind her. Kaede looked back to find him staring at her with a grimly serious expression, hand outstretched in offering. “Take this.”

Kaede’s brow furrowed as she looked at what he was giving up. “Your monopad...? I don’t understand. Why are you giving me this?”

Mondo’s jaw tensed slightly. “Monokuma said our doors only unlock if we’ve got these things, right? If that’s true… I shouldn’t have it. Not yet.”

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” Katio questioned.

Owada’s eyes went dark. “Because I can’t promise I won’t beat **that fat fuck** to death next time I see him. Until I’m strong enough not to, I ain’t puttin’ anyone else in danger. Lock me in my room when there aren’t people around to keep me from doing some stupid shit, alright?”

“Don’t just assume you’re gonna fail! If you want to succeed, you have to believe you can first!” Momota countered. Mondo scoffed.

“You’re seriously saying that after what just happened? Believin’ in myself means jack shit if it doesn’t work.”

Kaito opened his mouth to retort, but slowly seemed to reconsider. “W-well… fine. Tonight, maybe. But going forward, with Kaede and I having your back, you’ve got no excuse not to believe in yourself! I’m holding you to that!”

Kaede’s knee-jerk reaction was to refuse outright. How could she agree to imprison one of her friends right after promising to help him? That’s terrible! How could Kaito of all people agree with it, or at least not try to fight it that hard?! Yet, the more she thought about it, the more difficult it became to argue against. Mondo had already proven how dangerous he was. She still couldn’t tell if she was alive because of some subconsious restraint on his part or pure dumb luck. If it was the latter, lightning almost certainly wouldn’t strike twice, and she refused to test the former. Clearly Mondo felt the same if he felt the need to do this. If she refused and something happened… the pianist somewhat reluctantly accepted the device. “... Are you sure about this?”

The biker sneered slightly. “I already said to fuckin’ take it, didn’t I?” He said harshly. After a moment, he sighed, tone softening as he continued. “Positive. Look… maybe it’s stupid, but I think I can trust you, alright? I know you’re not going to stab me in my sleep or some shit. Very least, I trust you with this more than I trust myself with Hifumi. So just do it already.”

Kaede pursed her lips, but ultimately nodded, holding the tablet at her side. “... Okay. But only until tomorrow. We’ll deal with all of this then, okay?”

“I don’t know why the hell you trust me so much… alright. Tomorrow. Until then... later.” Mondo awkwardly bid farewell, walking through his still-open door and disappearing behind it once again. Kaede raised Owada’s pad to the scanner and heard the faint _ click _of the lock sealing him inside. Uneasiness filled the pianist knowing that he was once again at her mercy, but there was nothing she could do to change that. Not yet, anyway. Sighing, Kaede turned from the door to find Kaito crossing his arms. He nodded to the side, motioning for her to walk with him. Once they were a decent ways away, he spoke up again.

“You wanna tell me exactly what happened before I showed up?" The astronaut asked bluntly, concern and uncertainty. Kaede winced.

“... Mondo watched one of the motive tapes. Hifumi killed his best friend. He was looking for him, but found me first. I ended up calling him weak for wanting revenge, and…” Kaede trailed off, waving a hand vaguely. She gripped her arm a little tighter. Kaito’s eyes widened, jaw parting in surprise before he looked off to the side, dismayed. 

“... Was that guy’s name Kiyotaka?”

Kaede blinked at him. “Huh? How’d you know?”

Wordlessly, Kaito took out his monopad, tapped the screen a couple times, and held it out to her. The screen displayed a logo of Monokuma sitting in an ornate red armchair with a pipe and stereotypical detective’s hat atop the words **“Ultimate Crimes: True Tales of the Killing Game”** . Just below that was an all too familiar silhouette of a tall man in a long flowing coat, and next to him, **“Episode 2: Mondo Owada, Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.”** Kaede gasped, only tearing her eyes away from the tablet to look Kaito in the eyes.

“I wasn’t gonna watch it,” Kaito said before she could say anything. A cringe crossed the astronaut’s face. “But when I saw it was his, I thought maybe it’d give me a clue or something so I could get through to him. I thought about what you said the other night and wanted to figure out what I was gonna say to him before trying anything. But… when I saw you slumped against the wall like that, and him just standing there…”

“... That’s what happened last time, isn’t it?” Kaede quietly asked, already knowing the answer before the words ever left her lips. “He lost control and killed someone. When you saw us, you thought I was dead.”

Kaito nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I couldn’t believe it. If you didn’t move, I probably would've beat the hell out of him,” Momota admitted, a frown adorning his face as his brow creased. “... It doesn’t excuse it, but… Jesus. If someone here killed Shuichi or Maki, I don’t know what I’d do to them. He needs people to be there for him. I’m glad you’re one of them, Kaede.”

The pianist ignored the pit in her stomach that formed at the dark irony of that. “You too, Kaito. It won’t be easy at all, but,” She pumped her arms as she forced a smile, though it only barely pulled her lips up. “I know we can get through this together.”

Momota smirked. “That’s the spirit, sidekick. Monokuma won’t know what hit him!” Kaito proudly declared, some of his usual energy returning to his voice. Flicking off his monopad and putting it back in his coat, he gave a cross between a salute and a wave. “Try to get some sleep, alright? We’re gonna need it for training tomorrow… if you’re feeling up to it.”

“It’d probably help, honestly. Count me in. I’ll see you tomorrow, Kaito.” She bid farewell, waving the astronaut off before finally getting back to her room like she’d tried to do what felt like a lifetime ago. For a long moment, she could do nothing but stare at the gilded cage before her, suddenly feeling like she was in a dream. In her heart, the pianist didn’t expect to ever see this place again. The fact that she was here, alive -if not particularly well- in her cabin after two of the most horrific experiences of her life happening back to back, like nothing ever happened… it almost didn’t feel real. 

_ “... Is it real? Or… am I just dreaming, and Mondo really did…?” _ Kaede swallowed thickly at the horrifying thought. “N-no. Don’t think like that. You’re alive. You’re just tired, alright? Tired and scared. Just… just need some sleep…” She uneasily reassured herself. She was _ fine _. He didn’t hit her, and this wasn’t her imagination dreaming up some sort of happy ending. It was real. If it wasn’t… well… she’d never be around to realize that after she fell asleep. Dragging herself to the bed, the weary musician all but collapsed onto it, her exhaustion rushing up to meet her. Before long, it enveloped her completely, the world around her disappearing in a comfortable, hazy black.

***

Though sleep came to her quickly, it wouldn’t last. Her sleep was restless and fleeting, the pianist constantly switching between drifting into half-remembered nightmares and shooting up in her bed in terror, only to find herself too exhausted to ignore the pull of slumber. The only hints of her hellish dreams that lingered in her mind each time she woke up were off-key notes, unimaginable pain, and an overwhelming panic that left her heart jittering like a rabbit. The cycle of nightmares, waking to cold sweats, and passing out to yet more bad dreams trapped her in a constant limbo of horrifying sleep deprivation.

At some point, her brain managed just enough sleep to keep her awake, Akamatsu staring dully at the ceiling. She still felt completely fried, though thankfully not enough to be dragged back into the dark recesses of her subconscious, but still leaving her without the energy to do anything. Not that she particularly _ wanted _ to do anything after the night she’d had, but the boredom was nearly as torturous as her dreams. Kaede sighed wearily, mustering up whatever strength she could to sit up in bed and pinch the bridge of her nose. “This is pointless…” She grumbled to herself drearily. The blonde fumbled around the nightstand for her monopad to check the time, wincing with a groan at the bright blue light searing her eyes in the nearly pitch-black darkness of her room. _ “Five forty-five…? How can it still be this early? It feels like I’ve been trying this for days!” _

Kaede growled, flicking the tablet off and setting it back down on the nightstand. _ Two hours _ until the morning announcement… she couldn’t sit around in the dark for that long, or worse still, fall back asleep. No way in _ hell _ she was touching any of her music books or records right now. She needed to do something to distract her at least until the others were up… at which point she’d have to deal with a bunch of paranoid former murderers that were _ also _ incredibly eccentric and unpredictable teenagers. “... Okay, maybe something to distract me for _ awhile _…” Kaede sighed. She dragged herself out of bed, throwing on her shoes and grabbing her monopad before marching out the door. What exactly she should do was the biggest question at the moment. Her lab was obviously out of the question. Piano was ruined for her, plain and simple, and nothing could fix that. There was nothing left for her there but pain. She was way too exhausted to try any of the workout methods Kaito taught her. Trying out some of the games at the casino could be fun… but the idea of being alone in a room full of weapons didn’t sit well with her. Short of pounding on someone’s door before the sun even rose up, she wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with no matter what she did, and she refused to be that kind of a burden even if someone was willing to answer her calls. Excluding her own room, that left just the dining hall.

_ “... You know what? I just need something to keep myself busy. Maybe I could try cooking something for once. I _ ** _did_ ** _ tell Tsumugi we should try to expand our lists of hobbies. It’d keep me busy, at least…” _ Kaede decided. It wasn’t long before the pianist found herself in the kitchen looking for cookbooks. As it turned out, cooking something required actually knowing what to cook before starting. After quite some time of fruitless scouring, Kaede gave up on making an actual dish and opted to just try making some hot chocolate instead, grabbing a few chocolate bars and a milk carton before making her way to the stove. _ “Hot chocolate’s just melted down chocolate in some milk, right? How hard could that be?” _

Grabbing a pot from a nearby cupboard, Kaede put the bars in the bottom of it and set the container on one of the stoves. Once they melted down, the blonde poured the milk in and stirred it with a whisk over the course of a few minutes until it ended up as a sort of light brown sugary broth. The musician eagerly took a sample spoon to her first ever real attempt at cooking… and felt her lip curl down sharply in distaste at the completely unexpected flavor that awaited her. “... Ugh… what...? That’s completely wrong!” Kaede complained aloud, glowering down at the pot with a pout as if it would suddenly taste better if she made it clear how disappointed she was. Unfortunately for her, it was an inanimate object that wouldn’t be swayed by any amount of harsh looks. Kaede frowned with a sigh, crossing her arms. “... Did it need more milk, or more chocolate? Or am I just missing something completely? I _ really _should have learned some stuff about cooking, or-”

“Kaede?” 

The girl in question swerved on her heels with a yelp, nearly jumping out of her skin out of shock. That startlement died the moment she laid eyes on a slightly surprised Kirumi Tojo, the maid staring at her with just a hint of a quirked eyebrow. Kaede put a hand over her heart to try and calm her sudden burst of shock. “Kirumi! G-geez, you scared me! What are you doing here?”

“I always arrive at six sharp to start preparing breakfast early. Pardon my bluntness, but I could ask you the same. It’s unusual to see anyone else out and about at this hour…” Kirumi slowly trailed off, her emerald eye searching the pianist up and down as concern slowly crept into the maid’s features. “... Are you alright, Kaede? I’m sorry to say, but you look terrible. Have you gotten any sleep at all?”

Kaede winced, hesitating for a long moment before squeezing her arm shamefully. “... That obvious, huh?” She lamented ruefully, smiling wearily. That ghost of a smirk faded into a frown soon after. “... Not really. I… it’s been a bit of a rough night, to say the least. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d try making some hot chocolate, but think I just made some really bad chocolate milk instead…” Kaede joked lamely. She knew it wasn’t particularly funny, but she regretted how her words only seemed to worry Tojo further as the silver-haired girl’s gaze only grew more concerned.

“... I understand. Please, take a seat. I’ll prepare a cup for you immediately.” Kirumi instructed with a small bow of her head. Kaede complied and took a seat at the table closest to the kitchen, not wanting to refuse her friend’s offer despite the urge to keep herself busy with _ something _. She didn’t notice when she started drumming her fingers nervously against her knees out of habit as she tried to focus on how Tojo was making the drink to little success with how much distance was between them. She probably could’ve asked to make it with her, but she doubted the maid would’ve permitted it with how clearly shaken Kaede was, even if she phrased it as a request. It was clear her friend knew something was up, even if she could never possibly imagine everything she’d gone through in just a few short hours.

It wasn’t long before Kirumi returned with a dazzling cup of hot chocolate topped with whip cream and dusted with cocoa powder. Kaede offered a small, grateful smile as the other girl diligently handed the mug to her. “Thanks, Kirumi. It almost looks too good to drink...” Akamatsu praised, taking a moment to admire the maid’s decorating before taking a small sip. An appreciative hum followed soon after, her eyes widening at the taste of the perfect chocolatey blend. “Oh, wow. This is incredible!”

“Thank you, Kaede. You’re most welcome.” Kirumi said. Somewhat surprisingly for the usually subservient woman, Tojo took a seat next to Kaede, folding her hands in her lap and focusing her gaze on the musician. An expectant silence loomed over the pair as Kaede stared back at Kirumi, her hands wrapped around the mug to keep from fidgeting. She occasionally sipped on the brew without a word, internally debating her options. 

It was obvious Kirumi was waiting for her to broach the subject of whatever was keeping her up. She couldn’t tell the full truth, naturally. If possible, she’d prefer that what happened between her, Mondo, and Kaito remained something they all took to their graves. It wouldn’t be a lie to say she’d been having bad dreams… but the fact that they were happening because she went directly against what Kirumi told her to made it feel like a betrayal of trust to not mention. The maid tried to protect her, after all. The tricky part was the fact that it would require not only admitting her folly, but how badly it had affected her as well. How shaken it left her. How _ powerless _ she felt. How she’d completely and humiliatingly _ failed _. 

On the other hand… Kirumi had been the first to realize what was wrong with her. She knew at least some of the turmoil eating away at Kaede, and didn’t think any less of her for it. Even now, despite it completely throwing off her schedule, Tojo was taking the time to comfort Kaede and offer her a chance to admit what was bothering her. They might not have been particularly close in their first killing game, but ever since they ended up on this godforsaken ship, Kirumi had been by her side without a hint of hesitation or deception. Maybe… maybe she could expand her circle of trust, just a little. Kaede needed more people she could believe in without an asterisk. It took her longer than it probably should have, but in the wake of all that happened, it seemed like she finally realized she had someone else she could rely on. Taking a swig of the hot chocolate for courage, Kaede tentatively began. “... Hey, Kirumi?”

“Yes, Kaede?” Came Kirumi’s instant response, her emerald eye meeting Kaede’s magenta ones in no time. The blonde resisted the urge to look away, tightening her grip on the cup instead.

“... I… I did something _ really _ stupid earlier. I…” Akamatsu paused, a sudden bout of hesitation coming over her. This was her last chance to keep the genie in the bottle. There would be no taking back her confession once it passed her lips. Was she really willing to admit just how badly she lost her own gambit…? Kirumi stared at her intently, the restrained yet clearly worried anticipation in her eyes giving away the maid’s otherwise patient expression. Kaede waited for only a few moments longer before sighing in defeat. No. She had no right to stoke Kirumi’s worries like that and then refuse to be honest out of some stupid sense of pride. _ “You’re going to start trusting her, remember? Trust means being honest. Just spit it out already.” _ She firmly reminded herself, the heat of her drink warming her palms as her hands tensed even tighter around it. “... I tried playing the piano again last night.”

Kirumi’s eyes widened, surprise, sympathy, and Kaede thought might’ve been frustration pooling together in her green irises. She opened her mouth instantly, but hesitated, taking several long moments before finally speaking. “... Kaede… before anything else, I want you to know I’m truly sorry for what you must have gone through, and doubly so for not being there to help you through it. I cannot possibly imagine what it must have been like,” Tojo solemnly apologized, voice heavy with empathy for the traumatized blonde. Her expression tensed slightly, a frown pulling at her lips. “That said… if you’re willing, I’d like to ask why you would do such a thing after what we talked about.”

Kaede flinched guiltily, looking down at the cup to avoid having to face Kirumi. “I-I didn’t mean to. Not at first. I… I was just so _ frustrated _ . Seeing how scared and suspicious the others are now, avoiding each other like the plague and _ knowing _ it’s at least partly because they didn’t trust me to keep them safe… I felt completely powerless, and it was driving me crazy. I went on a walk to try and take my mind off things, but before I knew it, I was back at my lab. Looking at it, I got so scared that I felt sick to my stomach… but the longer I felt like that… the _ angerier _that made me.” Akamatsu scowled down into the cup, a faint simmer of that former indignation lighting deep down inside her. 

“It made you angry? Why?”

“Because it’s something else Monokuma beat me at. I loved playing the piano _ so _ much, and he _ ruined _ it. He took the thing that defined my entire life and made me scared to death of it. He… he _ stole _part of who I am!” Kaede shouted, a burst of outrage surging from the bottom of her heart. It went as quickly as it came, the pianist pausing as it was replaced with embarrassment at losing her cool. She pinched the bridge of her nose with a groan. “Oh, geez… I’m sorry. God, this is embarrassing…”

Kaede’s head shot up at the feeling of a leather glove gently grasping her hand to find Kirumi’s compassionate look. “There’s no need to feel ashamed. As your maid, and more importantly, as your friend, I’m not here to judge you. Please, don’t feel pressured to put on a strong face, or force yourself to go any further than you want to. My duty right now is to help you any way I can.”

A shaky, fragile simper tugged at Kaede’s lips. “... Thank you, Kirumi. Really. I’m sorry to just dump my problems on you, but… would you mind if I kept going? I haven’t talked about any of this with… anyone, really.” She admitted, an uncharacteristic bashfulness coming over her.

“You’re doing no such thing, Kaede. If you want to continue venting, however, please, do.”

Akamatsu took another drink before continuing. “After a little bit, it was like something snapped. I wasn’t scared anymore. All I wanted to do was prove to myself that I could still do it. I wanted to prove I’m still me, no matter what. So, I just marched in there and forced myself to start playing. And, for a little bit… I think it worked. It’s pretty fuzzy after I started, but I remember feeling great. Scared and sick, but great. Like going on a roller coaster, you know? But… I screwed up. _ Really _ screwed up. I got cocky. I… I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I ended up playing the Flea Waltz, and I… it felt so, so real… I...” Kaede felt herself choke up, her eyes filling with tears. Oh, god, no. Opening up was one thing, but _ crying _in front of someone? How could she do something this stupid? How was she supposed to be strong for anyone while she was acting like a little girl?! Why?! Why couldn’t she just get over these stupid feelings?! Why was she-

In her miserable, tearful stupor, Kaede didn’t realize Kirumi wasn’t sitting down anymore until she suddenly felt the maid start rubbing her back, swiveling her head to the blurry mess of colors that vaguely resembled her dear friend. She tried to say something, but by the time she managed anything beyond intelligible gasps and sobs, Kirumi was softly shushing her. “It’s alright, Kaede. I promise. You’re not alone. There’s no need to be ashamed of grief.” 

Sitting there with tears running down her face and her friend’s gentle encouragement, a dam broke in Kaede, and the girl well and truly wept. In a moment, everything from the past week rushed back to her all at once. Waking up kidnapped. The first killing game. The Death Road of Despair. The time limit. Betraying Shuichi. Killing Rantaro. Shuichi’s heartbroken forsaking of her in turn. Her execution. Reliving all of that _ again _ when her memories were restored. Realizing her sacrifice went unavenged. Rejection after rejection by the other blackened. Her newfound phobia of her beloved instrument. Mondo almost killing her. Her almost killing Mondo. In just under seven days, she’d gone from a relatively normal if eccentric and upbeat teenage girl to a convicted murderer that died, came back to life, and nearly died _ again _. All that happened in the span of a week to her mind… and she’d never really had time to process any of it. She was always busy trying to extinguish whatever fires popped up to replace the ones she managed to put out, watching the flames grow and grow around her and being able to do nothing but pretend she didn’t feel the heat. Now, however, there was no pretending that they weren’t consuming her alive, each and every trauma mercilessly serving as yet another weight thrown on her shoulders until she finally couldn’t carry it anymore.

And so Kaede cried. At long last, she mourned every tragedy that had befallen her, and that she had thrusted upon others. She cried for the friends she failed to protect. For poor, innocent Rantaro, whose only crime was not trusting anyone enough to share what he knew. For Shuichi, who put his faith in the wrong person and paid for it in tears and blood. At last, she cried for herself, mourning the girl she used to be before Monokuma twisted her into this monstrous parody of herself. Her tears fell for what felt like a lifetime with thick, pitiful sobs that wracked her whole body each time on rumbled out from the depths of her very soul, weeping until her eyes finally went dry and her sobs faded to miserable sniffles.

“... Do you feel better?” Kirumi gently asked as she offered the whimpering girl a handkerchief. Kaede grimaced, her face already red with emotion but deepening in embarrassment even as she accepted it.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. One second I was fine, and the next," She lightly dabbed Kirumi's handkerchief against her puffy red eyes still soaked with tears. A self-depreciating chuckle escaped her. "And the next, I'm ugly-crying and ruining your handkerchief. I'm such a mess right now…"

Kirumi shook her head. “You’ve been holding things in. Things that really musn’t, or they’ll eat away at you more and more. You don’t have to discuss it if it’s too distressing, but I assume the lack of sleep is because of nightmares. Am I correct?" A nod from Kaede spurred her to continue. "Are they of your…” Kirumi trailed off, her eloquent vocabulary failing her for once. After all, there wasn’t really a polite way to talk about being agonizingly hanged and stoned to death, now was there? Kaede saved them both the trouble and nodded.

“Y-yeah. I can never remember for sure, b-but…” Akamatsu swallowed down her nerves, tracing a hand along her neck without realizing it. “... But I’m pretty certain… god. You’d think that would be something you’d remember pretty clearly, right? There’s no way someone could ever forget it… yet, it’s always either a blur of pain, or I remember _ everything _ . There’s no in between. Except…” A rueful, wet croak of a laugh rumbled from her as she put a hand over her tearstained face. “Except I always remember that the song’s offkey, and how much that _ bothers _ me. I guess I really am a piano freak, huh?”

“Forgetting seemingly obvious parts of the event is quite common in people suffering from conditions like yours. As for that detail, I’m afraid Monokuma excels at preying on even our smallest annoyances and making their importance seem insurmountable. He certainly accomplished that during my own… but that’s a different discussion,” Kirumi dismissed with the slightest bit of haste. Her small frown returned once again as she retook her seat. “More to the point, I can’t help but notice that you keep downplaying your concerns. I assure you, there’s no need to do that. I did say you needn’t feel ashamed of this, didn’t I? Confessing your feelings doesn’t make you weak, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

That struck a nerve Kaede didn’t know she had. “How is anyone supposed to believe in what I’m saying if I’m coming apart at the seams? How could they believe in _ me _ ?” Kaede all but hissed, regretting her harshness the moment the words left her mouth but resenting the maid’s unbelievably naive comment. She closed her eyes shamefully with a sigh. “They wouldn’t put their faith in someone who has stupid overreactions like that. I know you, Kaito, and the other guys from our game trust me, but that doesn’t mean _ everyone _ will.”

“Nonsense. You earned all of our trust by this time in the last game, Kaede.”

Kaede scowled. “And then I betrayed everyone. Besides, no one knew I was a murderer back then, either.”

Tojo paused, blinking in surprise before thinning her lips. “... That descriptor is rather nebulous given your present company, Kaede. Anyone that held that against you would be incredibly foolish, not to mention hypocritical.”

Akamatsu winced. “But none of you-”

“Are any different,” Kirumi interrupted. Kaede was so taken aback by the fact that _ Kirumi _ of all people cut her off that she couldn’t even try to butt back in. Though her voice started off steady, more and more emotion seeped into her tone as she continued. “If anything, our crimes are far less understandable. And, if I may be frank, Kaede, the only foolish thing about you is this insistence on pretending you’re invulnerable. I promise you, whatever good you think it’s doing, it will do you infinitely more harm in the near future. So please, _ stop this dangerous facade while you can _.”

The pianist gazed slack jawed at the normally perfectly composed teen, completely taken aback by Kirumi’s burst of emotion. “Kirumi? Are you alright?”

Tojo took a deep breath, bowing her head apologetically. “... I apologize. That was unprofessional of me. However… I do mean what I said. Do you remember when I told you about one of my former masters, Kaede?” She questioned, Kaede nodding in turn. “Shortly after I came under his employ, he and his family left for vacation. They left later than they intended, and they were going to miss their flight. In a rush, my former employer instructed his driver to start speeding. However, when they tried to run a red light, their car was hit by a semi truck. Miraculously, he survived… but he was the only one.”

Kaede gasped, covering her mouth. “Oh my god… that’s so horrible! I couldn’t imagine…”

Kirumi closed her eyes. “Devastated couldn’t come close to describing him after that. He completely shut down for months, hardly leaving his study, sometimes not for days at a time. The few times I saw him during that period, and every time I saw him after it, however, he acted like he was fine. Hurting, of course, but stable. He wasn’t,” She sighed deeply, her features twisting into an unmistakable look of regret. “He was deteriorating. I never learned for sure, but I believe now that he formed PTSD and depression in the wake of their demise, holding himself responsible for it. He was simply good at hiding it behind a smile and his wit. Every time I grew concerned, he’d laugh it off. At the time, he’d been running a company, and felt that the board would lose confidence in him if he showed so-called _ weakness _over his loss, including seeking treatment for his depression. So, he said to me what he said to everyone: he was fine, and there was no reason to worry. That I was too kindhearted for my own good. Being young and inexperienced, I eventually believed him… even when I noticed how often he was slurring his words, or couldn’t walk in a straight line, or the smell of whiskey on his breath.”

Kaede felt her heart sink at the implication. “That poor man… it’s not like he meant for them to die. None of that was his fault.”

Tojo hung her head lower. “If only he saw it that way. Because he refused to admit his emotions to anyone, he turned to self-medicating. It was a pointless endeavor, in the end. When he showed up to a meeting drunk, his alcoholism was discovered, and he lost his position anyway. He felt he had to be strong in front of everyone he knew, only to slowly chip away at his soul until he was left a hollow husk of the man he’d been. Without his job, he had nothing left...” Kirumi’s voice shook ever so slightly, hardly noticeable even to Kaede’s remarkable hearing. The maid paused, quietly sucking in a breath before staring directly into Kaede’s eyes with an unyielding gaze. “I found him dead in his study the following morning.”

Another sharp gasp escaped the lamentful leader, her magenta eyes going wide with stunned disbelief and sympathy. “O-oh my… Kirumi, I’m so sorry. I… I don’t know what to say. That’s just so awful…” Kaede meekly offered, too shaken by the maid’s story to muster any of her usual fierce determination.

“... It was, without a doubt, one of the worst experiences of my life. When the signs became more and more obvious in my mind, the guilt was crushing. Even now, I can’t help but think of what I could have done differently to make sure he was still alive today. It did, however, teach me a vital lesson: cloaking negative emotions does nothing but make them stronger and stronger until they become uncontrollable. That’s why I must beg you to entrust this to someone _ consistently _, Kaede. Not just when you’re left with no other options. Reactions like this happen when feelings are allowed to fester and worsen because they’re never properly addressed. When they’re left bottled up too long…” Kirumi let the words hang in the air, the unspoken conclusion heavy on both their hearts. 

Kaede cringed, looking down guilty at the floor as she gripped her arm out of habit. There _ was _ someone she promised to trust enough to confide at least some of that in… but there was no way she could explain who that was without preparing a fresh hell for herself _ and _Mondo. Kaito knew, but that was more from her being unlucky enough to have episodes and lapses of judgement around him than Intentionally letting him in. Neglecting to mention the two of them, that left only the truth at the core of her problem. “... I don’t want to be a burden on anyone. It’s not fair of me to just dump my problems on people.”

“Is that how you think of Mister Saihara?”

Akamatsu’s head snapped up to the blank faced maid, brow furrowing in disbelief. “Excuse me?” She demanded, her heart clinging to the hope that she’d somehow misheard Kirumi despite the offense already bubbling in her.

“I believe we both know that Mister Saihara is not someone with great self-confidence. Given how close the two of you were, and how he spoke of you in our time together, I have no doubt that you offered him your aid whether he sought it out or not. He found similar relief in Mister Momota. Am I to understand that you consider him a burden for asking others for help?”

Kaede couldn’t believe what she was hearing, a glare coming over her. “No, that’s wrong! I’d never think of him like that! He just needed someone to be there for him! That’s not being a burden, that’s just needing a helping hand! How could… wait, why are you...” Kaede trailed off as she noticed Tojo’s lips curled ever so slightly upward. After a moment, her own contradiction struck her like a bus, Kaede’s lips thinning as she struggled to come up with an argument. Kirumi didn’t give her the opportunity.

“The others trusted him with their lives at my trial, and doubtlessly continued to long after. They were well aware of his struggles… yet they didn’t hesitate to turn to him for guidance. Just as everyone here turns to you. Knowing that, tell me, Kaede: why should you consider yourself a burden for considering what you are proud of Mister Saihara for doing? Or, for that matter, what I’m certain Miss Tsumiki is seeking in you now?” Kirumi asked rhetorically, well aware that she’d left the pianist no escape from the truth.

“... It’s… it’s just different, okay? I’m not ready for anyone else to know yet. It’s not fair of me to force that on them, and it’s not fair _ to me _ to have to do that. Not while we’re still trapped here, at least,” Kaede pleaded defeatedly, tiredness seeping into her bones and soul. Her eyes, still puffy and red, looked directly into the maid’s emerald own. “Look. I… I get what you’re trying to say. And I appreciate it a lot. But… this is really something I’d prefer we kept between us for now, okay?”

Kirumi closed her eyes, gently bowing her head. “If that’s truly your request, then it is my duty to accept. However… I’m afraid I must ask one stipulation”

The blonde furrowed her brow, concern and confusion mixing together at the sudden request. “Stipulation? What do you mean?”

“What I mean, Kaede, is that if you’re ever going to recover from your trauma, you must be willing to tell people when you’re having problems. If you promise me that you will come to me whenever these thoughts are haunting you, and that you’ll at least attempt to confide these feelings in someone else as well, I swear that I will do everything in my power to help you through this without forcing you to compromise your pride too much,” Tojo said firmly, though not unkindly. Her gaze was sharp, but more akin to the forcefully concerned looks Kaede herself would give Shuichi whenever he’d make some self-depreciating comment than any sort of malice. The maid put her steepled fingers flat against the table. “Essentially, I’m asking you to help me by helping yourself in addition to my aid. This is simply something that I cannot do alone. Are you willing to do that, Kaede?”

Kaede hesitated for a moment. That… was a very reasonable request, in all honesty, but the idea still gave her pause. Having to spill her guts out to Kirumi whenever she felt terrible about something would have been a difficult request given the pianist’s mindset _ before _ she had those feelings on a daily basis. Sure, it was technically Kirumi’s job as a maid to listen to Kaede vent if the musician wanted, but just because it was theoretically a part of her title didn’t mean it should actually have to be her _ responsibility _. It was bad enough how much work everyone shoved on the poor girl without her having to deal with whatever random thing bummed Kaede out.

On the other hand, Kaede herself had ironically been the one to point out that someone can’t be helped if they didn’t truly want to be. She wanted to fix this more than anything, to not be sick to her stomach and rattled to the core every time she so much as thought about her talent. But, by refusing to actually talk to Kirumi or someone about her shameful feelings, wasn’t she actually just making everything harder for herself and everyone else? What if the next time she got overwhelmed, it was in front of the entire group instead of just Kirumi? _ That _ would completely destroy her confidence even more than the loss of her talent had. Confessing her problems _ did _ help, too… she certainly felt a lot less like she was suffocating at least, even if she had to trade that for her eyes stinging and her face feeling wet and hot. Besides, she was already planning on opening up at least partially to Mondo and Kaito. There was no way she couldn’t after the night the three of them had. All she had to do was swallow her pride and count on her friends as much as she expected them to count on her. She could do that. _ “That’s what I told Mondo, right? Getting stronger together… it’s not that different here...” _

Taking a breath, Kaede gave a slow nod. “... Yeah. I’ll do it. I promise.”

The tension visibly lifted from Tojo’s shoulders, the prim girl’s firm look softening in relief. “Thank you, Kaede. I’m not sure you’ll ever know what a relief this is to me,” Kirumi said with a grateful incline of her head. "But I will do everything I can to demonstrate that gratitude in my service. You've done the right thing."

Akamatsu managed a small smile. "Shouldn't the person asking for help be the one this thankful instead of the other way around? All I did was say I wouldn't make things worse… but, really, thank you, Kirumi. It's going to be hard, but I think this is going to work out. In fact," She pumped her arms in a show of confidence she was trying to feel. "I'll consider it part of my responsibilities as your apprentice maid!"

“Then I have every confidence you’ll succeed,” Kirumi encouraged contently. A beat of companionable quiet fell over the two, the pianist returning to her previously forgotten hot (now only mildly warm) chocolate. After a few moments, the maid politely cleared her throat. “Is there anything else that has been troubling you, Kaede?”

It was amazing how people managed to keep asking her loaded questions with no idea how difficult they were to answer honestly. There absolutely was, but given how upset Kirumi had become over Kaede accidentally triggering her own PTSD, there was no way in a million years she would admit that she very nearly died that night. Instead, as guilty as it made her to do after promising to be more open, the blonde opted to lie through her teeth. “... I don’t think so. That’s pretty much everything.”

Tojo nodded and gently rose from her seat. “Very well then. In that case, I shall begin breakfast. Do you have any particular requests?”

Kaede shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m not really hungry right now. I think just some cereal will be great.”

“I’ll have it prepared shortly,” The silver-haired servant assured. She bowed her head as if she were about to leave, but she suddenly seemed to hesitate. “... Kaede? If you don’t mind my pressing… would you like for me to clean your lab?”

Kaede failed to hide her wince. “... It’s probably a mess after last night, huh?” She idly mused aloud, less speaking to the maid and more saying the realization as it struck her. Her lab… what a sick joke. Monokuma _ knew _ . He knew just how much he’d corrupted the very core of her identity. He was laughing while she was _ hanged to death playing piano _ for god’s sake. That damned stuffed animal… something in her gut twisted as the reality of her situation fully sank in. _ She could never play piano again. _Her biggest passion in life, what used to bring her such overwhelming joy, was forever tarnished. Last night proved that no matter how hard she tried, all the love and comfort she once found in her instrument was replaced with pain and terror. It… it would never be the same again. It would haunt her for the rest of her life, a specter of the girl she once was. Unless... “Y-yeah. That’s fine… but… I’m sorry, but could I ask you another favor?”

“Certainly. What do you need?”

“Remember earlier, when I was talking about how Monokuma stole part of who I am?” Kaede quietly asked, the gravity of what she was about to propose weighing heavily on her as Kirumi nodded. Gulping, she forced herself to continue. “I… I don’t think I’m ever going to get that part of me back. Not anytime soon, at least. So… I think it might be best to just say goodbye to it.”

Kirumi’s eyes went wide. “... Kaede, do you mean to say that you’re giving up your talent?”

Akamatsu flinched at the blunt remark, but nodded. “Yes. I don’t know if it’s forever, but… I… I need to move on. Before I can do that, though... I need closure. It meant so much to me, so I can’t just drop it, you know? So… could… could I come with you and say goodbye to it? See it one last time before… whatever it is that comes next?”

Kirumi didn’t say a word, staring at the pianist with an unreadable expression. The silence stretched uncomfortably long, nervousness settling more and more in Kaede’s gut as the seconds ticked by. “Kaede… are you certain about this?” She finally asked, her tone very deliberately neutral. Akamatsu nodded, but before she could speak, Tojo held up a hand. “Please, before you say anything, consider all that this entails. You’re effectively forfeiting the skill you’ve devoted your life up to this point developing, something you acknowledge as an integral part of yourself. In doing so, you are going to return to a room entirely themed around the source of your traumas after this very same room that caused a violent flashback and _ multiple _panic attacks less than twelve hours ago. I understand why you want to do this, but please, consider whether this is wise or not first.”

Kaede gripped her arm yet again, not quite meeting Kirumi’s gaze. “... I know it’s brash. Maybe even a bit stupid. But… _ please _, Kirumi. If I don’t, it’ll just keep haunting me again and again. The goal is to move past what happened to me, right? That means leaving what’s broken beyond repair behind. Please. Help me do that.”

Tojo was visibly unmoved, the maid’s steely gaze unwavering. After some time, however, Kirumi spoke. “... Kaede, please answer what I’m about to ask honestly. If I refuse your request, are you going to attempt to do this anyway?”

Akamatsu blinked at the sheer bluntness of the question. “I… don’t know. I’m not planning on disobeying you… but I didn’t plan on doing that last night, either.” She reluctantly admitted the truth. Kirumi closed her eyes, a hint of tension forming in her jaw.

“... I was afraid you’d say that…” Kirumi tiredly stated. Her eyes reopened to reveal a pitying yet weary gaze. “... Very well, Kaede. I am willing to fulfill your request. However… I will be doing so as a chaperone. If at any point I believe it becomes detrimental to your mental, emotional, or physical safety, I will escort you back to your room immediately whether you agree or not. I’m afraid that is not up for negotiation. Is this agreeable?”

Kaede hesitated for only a moment before giving a nod. “That’s fair. And, I mean, it’s what I promised you the other day, isn’t it? There’s no way I’d back out on that,” Akamatsu agreed. Rising from her seat, the pianist brought her lips into a fragile ghost of a smile. “... Thank you, Kirumi. This… really means a lot to me. When would be a good time?”

“If you’re ready, now would be fine. Breakfast will be a rather lengthy process, so if you’d prefer to get it done as soon as possible, now would be optimal. Given the overall mood on the ship, I doubt I’ll need to prepare as hearty a breakfast as usual before anyone arrives, so that gives us a little more time as well. On the other hand, if you wish to take some time to consider it more, I’m also willing to abide by that.” 

Kaede hummed, thinking it over for a second before coming to a conclusion. “If you’re sure it doesn’t mess with your schedule too much, I think I’m ready now.”

“As you wish. Please, allow me to lead the way.” Kirumi requested, though it wouldn’t be that hard to take it as an instruction instead. With that, the pair of Ultimates began their trek to Kaede’s lab, a contemplative silence falling over them. Each step seemed to confuse Kaede’s emotions further, with both anticipation and dread pooling in her stomach more and more with every inch closer they drew. She was effectively closing the book on a chapter of her life she’d once thought would last to the end of her days. It was strange to think of it like that -especially for someone that already died once- but was true all the same. Nervousness, relief, excitement, sadness, all those and more swirled in her chest at what she had to do. That was the most important thing for her to remember, though: she _ had _to do this. For Kaede Akamatsu to live, the Ultimate Pianist had to well and truly die, or both of them would destroy each other. Clinging to that with all her strength, the blonde leader strode with as much purpose as she could muster.

Just after reaching the second deck, the quiet was interrupted by the soft sound of a door sliding, though it seemed much louder in the near dead silence of the empty hall. Kaede turned back to see a familiar tower of bronze skin and muscle walking out of the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab. “Sakura?”

Ogami’s head swiveled at the sound of Kaede’s voice, the woman shifting out of a defensive posture nearly as quickly as she’d assumed it. “Kaede, and Kirumi. Good morning.” She greeted after noticing the maid just ahead of the pink-clad teen. Akamatsu managed a wave and a smile.

“Good morning! Oh, and sorry for just calling you out instead of saying hi. I was just a little surprised that anyone else was up already.”

Sakura bowed her head. “Likewise. Aside from Kirumi, I thought only I tended to get up this early.”

“It is something of a rarity to find teenagers willing to wake up before six a.m.,” Kirumi joked lightly. It didn’t take long after that for her usual sense of professionalism to reassert itself. “I hope your routine went well this morning, Miss Ogami. Would you like your usual protein shake with breakfast?”

The gargantuan woman nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Kirumi. I was able to complete my workout with no problems… though I couldn’t shake a strange feeling while I was meditating. I’m unsure what the cause is, but it was… unsettling.”

“A strange feeling? Like what?” Akamatsu asked, tilting her head in intrigue.

“I’m not entirely sure how to describe it other than a distinctly wrong aura surrounding me. It permeated the prison from my game, and the ship as well to varying extents, but it seems particularly strong in the dojo for whatever reason. That’s why I am going to the dining hall somewhat earlier than usual. If you don’t mind, of course.” Sakura rumbled, a look of deep thought and weariness crossing over her features before she addressed Kirumi.

“Not at all, though I’m afraid breakfast will be slightly delayed. I’m currently handling a rather urgent request. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

Sakura nodded once again. “I was wondering what the two of you were looking for here this early. If you’d like, I’m willing to assist if I am able.”

“Thanks, but I think we’ve got it handled. The good news is this shouldn’t take very long, so we’ll see you at breakfast pretty soon!” Kaede enthusiastically promised with a lot more upbeatness than she’d actually felt all morning. Kirumi agreed more moderately, but it still got the point across.

The Ultimate Martial Artist gave one final nod (clearly a favorite of the rather stoically expressed warrior). “As you wish. I will see you both later.” Sakura bid farewell, turning towards the stairs. Their brief, impromptu meeting over, the duo parted ways with the other girl and continued on their way to the source of so many of Kaede’s woes until they finally arrived.

Standing before the ornate door, Kaede could already feel her breath threatening to hitch as her blood chilled and gut twisted. It was through sheer willpower that she didn’t double over and vomit then and there. She could feel Kirumi’s hawkish gaze already studying her closely, no doubt counting as Kaede’s visible stress slowly built up points on some mental scale until it passed acceptable levels. With that unofficial time limit in mind, Kaede took a long, steadying breath to try and ease her quickening heart. “... This is really it…” She murmured to herself.

“Are you certain you don’t want to stop? There’s no shame in reconsidering, Kaede…” Tojo quietly offered her an escape. The head of the group forced herself to shake her head despite her worry.

“I’m sure. I… I just need to do this. I _ can _ do this,” Kaede declared aloud, clenching her firsts for strength. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, taking an uneasy but determined step forward. And another, and soon another after that until she could feel her lightly shaking hand grip the doorknob. “I _ will _do this. I… I’m Kaede Akamatsu, and I don’t need-” She swung the door open…

… and was instantly hit with the noxious stench of death.

The horribly familiar coppery smell of blood caused her eyes to snap open to a sight ripped straight from a nightmare. Dark red was splattered across the once beautifully white keys of the piano, drying blood and brain matter forming sickening clums of gore where they cooled. Some of it had dripped all the way down from the shattered remains of what had once been a skull onto the ivories and slowly down the piano and finally to the floor from there, while most of it pooled around the broken bowl of bone and viscera and soaked the body’s clothes in scarlet. The keylid gleamed a sickening reddish black in the soft light of her lab, only notable because of the fact that it was lodged in what had once been a person’s head. Their body hunched awkwardly over the instrument in a sick parody of someone sitting down to play; their arms hanging limp at their sides as their chest and ruined skull slumped against the stained white keys. Their skinny legs stiffly pressed against the bench, halfway between resting on the wooden seat and collapsing to the floor entirely.

Bile rushed to Kaede’s throat, the world exploding into a hellishly warm heat that somehow made her feel like she was freezing at the same time. No logical thoughts went through her mind, entirely replaced by pure shock and horror at the impossible scene mere feet away from her as a bone chilling scream rumbled from the deepest depths of her soul.

Before Kaede laid the gruesome corpse of Hifumi Yamada, the once bright and creative Ultimate Fanfic Creator now dead and lifeless with his skull broken and greymatter splattered across the keys of her piano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... We gotta be honest, we didn't think *anyone* would fall for that twist, let alone nearly everyone. There's no way we could do Kaede AND Mondo that dirty, this early. No, both have way too much potential to get whacked this early! We certainly wouldn't SHOW WHO DID IT AND HOW at any rate! Unfortunately, my boi Hifumi didn't possess quite as much luck. :(
> 
> Related meme, courtesy of CSpratt:
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/CDM45HH.png
> 
> By the way, thank you all so much for 100 kudos! This is a huge honor, and we wouldn't have gotten this far without all your support!
> 
> -MrCynical


	10. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Deadly Life Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation officially begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at last, we reach the point we know you've all been waiting for: the investigation! I wonder if anyone will be able to solve the case before we get to the trial? I'll be rather impressed if so.
> 
> As a side note, if you're the sort that likes to listen to music while reading to get immersed, I personally recommend Vetrom's Danganronpa remixes, as I personally consider a lot of those tracks to be the soundtrack for this "game" if you will. Specifically for the investigation, their remix of Box 15 found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_DJ8g9qmYE
> 
> Check the ending notes for a list of all current Truth Bullets and their descriptions!
> 
> -MrCynical

This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be **real** . Kaede couldn’t make sense of what was right in front of her. There was no way Hifumi could be dead. They… they’d spoken just yesterday evening and he was fine! A little shaken up sure, but certainly not _ dead _ ! Kaede was vaguely aware of a pair of hands grabbing her by the shoulders, but her eyes refused to leave Yamada’s corpse. This had to be fake. She… she must have been having another nightmare! That’s the only explanation! She’d wake up any second now and wake up back in her room like nothing happened at all _ because there’s no way he could really be _ ** _dead-_ **

“KAEDE!” Kirumi shouted desperately, and in that moment, the world exploded into noise. Kaede could hear herself screaming, sounding more like a high-pitched and terrified screech of the damned than her own voice. She stumbled backwards into the hold as her body tried to put as much space between herself and the hellish scene before her as it could manage. She felt herself bump into something tall and strong less than a second before the hold on her shoulders wrapped around her torso and tried to pull her away. “Don’t look!” The maid all but begged. She knew Kirumi was right. She shouldn’t look. She didn’t _ want _to look. But in her panicked state, her body refused to obey, the girl becoming as rigid as a rock as she froze with horror. 

“He… he’s dead,” Kaede numbly uttered, voice devoid of emotion despite the paralyzing, sickening fear that washed over her entire body. Her vision trembled- no, her entire _ body _ trembled as the sight of Hifumi’s brutalized corpse forever burned itself into her mind. His blood and brains painted the keyboard, the dark stains forming a trail back to the unnatural mishmash of bone and gore that had once been his skull. The stench of it was overpowering, the smell of parts of the body a person should never get an opportunity to know put on gruesome display for anyone unfortunate enough to stumble across the scene. Soaked in the deceased Ultimate’s ichor, the keys of the piano looked distinctly like the bloodied maw of a savage predator not yet done with its victim. Somewhere, somehow, off-key notes faintly played with sadistic glee, each note perfectly in sync with the terror and bile rising in her. “Hifumi’s dea- _ urch _-!”

Kaede’s stomach lurched, and in an instant, the blonde was doubling over and retching out the meager contents of her stomach. Her throat burned like hell, her eyes watering in agony and disgust as she heaved and shuddered. She was freezing and on fire at the same time, a swirling concoction of contrasting extremes that rocked her to her core. Kirumi’s hold was the only thing keeping her on her feet, one arm still reaching across her shoulders while the other moved to support the vomiting girl’s back. Tojo was saying something, but the phantom song in her mind and the sound of her own pained gasps drowned out whatever comfort Kirumi might have provided.

Even when Kaede managed to steady herself enough to stop, she still felt sick to her stomach. Disgusting couldn’t come close to describing the sensation that seeped into her bones like a winter chill. Akamatsu took long, shaking breaths, wincing at the lingering taste and stench of bile each time. She was revolted by herself and the mess she made, but that couldn’t compare to the sickening scene just beyond the door. It took every modicum of strength she had to keep staring at the floor, too afraid of the horrible reality looking back up would confirm. _ “Please, _ ** _please_ ** _ let me wake up now... just let this be a nightmare…” _

Suddenly, the sound of thunderous footsteps tearing down the hall rang through the corridor like gunshots. It started off somewhat distantly, but it was nearly upon them in mere seconds. Kaede weakly turned her head just in time to see Sakura round the corner and charge towards them at a nearly inhuman speed. Mere moments later, the Ultimate Martial Artist stood before them, fists pumped and body hunched in preparation for a fight. “I heard a scream. What’s happening?!”

“... There’s been a murder.” Kirumi announced grimly. Sakura’s eyes went wide with shock, her jaw dropping, before her gaze went dark.

“... Who?” Ogami rumbled. Before Kirumi could say anything, Kaede shakily held up a finger, pointing into the room without a word. Sakura marched forward, and less than a second later, Kaede’s last shreds of hope came crumbling down around her with a dull hum of static.

** _Ding Dong Dong Ding!_ **

**“** ** _A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time..._ ** **”**

Monokuma kept babbling on, but Kaede didn’t bother listening. She was too caught up in the torrent of thoughts that all came rushing to her at once. This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t some screwed up byproduct of her traumatized subconscious coming to haunt her for her sins. This was _ real _. Hifumi was truly dead. His corpse was as real as Rantaro’s had been just a few days prior. No matter how much she wished it wasn’t, or that it could all be some horrible joke, she knew in her mind -and worse, in her heart- that it was all undeniably, unforgivably true.

The killing game had started.

_ “One of us is the killer.” _

Those six words turned the world upside down. Kaede felt completely numb. Everything outside of her felt hot yet freezing, a sickening fog of pure dread that slowly began to seep back into her body as the seconds ticked by. Instead of draining what little strength she had left, though, the feeling of weakness was purged from her body. In its place was an uncomfortable but unyielding determination, one she had only felt once before in her entire life. It was the same feeling she had when she decided to die if it meant exposing the mastermind at her trial. Someone _ murdered _ one of her friends, and was going to kill everyone else if she didn’t act. Her fists clenched tightly as she closed her eyes, her nails digging into her palms. _ No _. She wasn’t going to let that happen. She’d make sure of that, no matter what. 

Kaede felt like her body went into autopilot as she forced herself to stand up. Her body ached from head to toe, a queasiness dancing in her gut and threatening to make her keel over and hurl yet again, but these previously all encompassing sensations now felt distant and weak compared to the steely resolve surging in her. “Kaede, are you alright?” Kirumi asked worriedly, the former pianist turning to face her concerned friend.

“I… I’m fine. But even if I wasn’t, that doesn’t matter right now. We… we can’t afford to waste any time,” She said as firmly as she could, trying not to wince at the soreness of her throat. Sucking in a breath, she shook her head, looking directly into the maid’s eyes. “Kirumi, I need you and Sakura to stay here and stand guard while I get everyone else, okay? I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Kaede instructed, determination and worry blending together in her voice. Tojo’s shocked worry was evident on her face.

“Kaede, I apologize for my callousness, but a _ murder _just occured. There is no way I can leave you alone in good conscience when there is a killer hiding amongst us. I will do no such thing.” Kirumi outright refused, her tone and gaze unwavering. Kaede stared at her, completely take aback, but the girl never got an opportunity to fire back.

“I’ll go. I shall return shortly.” Sakura declared. Before either of her companions could object, the Ultimate Martial Artist was tearing down the hall yet again, vanishing around the corner in a matter of seconds. Kaede stared for a couple seconds, a heavy sigh escaping her after a moment.

“So much for having the strongest person here guard the crime scene… at least she’ll be fast.” Akamatsu thought aloud. Kirumi shook her head.

“Kaede, there’s no one to guard the scene _ from _ yet. You and I are the only ones here right now. I sincerely doubt whoever the killer is would attempt to return and disrupt evidence after the body has already been discovered, and even if they did, they would have to make it past the others, Sakura, myself, _ and _you undiscovered. That’s rather improbable, wouldn’t you say?” The diligent servant calmly explained, her gaze soft and reassuring. 

Kaede’s lips thinned, gripping her arm out of habit. “... I mean… that is a _lot _of people to get past between the dorms and-” The blonde stopped dead in her tracks, mouth going dry and blood turning to ice water as the implications of the scene of the crime hit her like a ton of bricks. “Oh god… my lab…”

The silver-haired girl tilted her head, uncertainty leaking into her measured expression. “Kaede, what-”

“My lab,” Kaede parroted, feeling the color drain from her face more and more with every following word. “Kirumi, there’s a dead body _ in _ ** _my lab_ **,” She stressed the last few words for emphasis. Kirumi caught the ex-pianist’s meaning, her eyes widening and jaw dropping. The crack in the maid’s composure sent Akamatsu’s simmering fear exploding outwards as she desperately stammered out, “I-I didn’t do it! I swear! I-” 

Kirumi grasped her shoulders once again, forcing the blonde to look directly into her eyes. “Calm down, Kaede. I know you didn’t. It’s evident that you’re being framed.”

Kaede sagged with relief, her sudden burst of panic leaving her with a long, shaky breath. “Th-thank you… you don’t know how good that is to hear,” She gratefully said, her friend’s trust in her acting like a lifeline pulling her away from the dark and murky waters of fear. However, one last seed of doubt planted itself in her mind, an uncomfortable thought that formed a pit in her stomach. Her thankful gaze slowly shifted into a grimace. “... But... how do you know?” 

Tojo blinked, puzzled. “I beg your pardon?”

“... How do you know I’m not the killer?” Kaede forced out, the words tasting like ash on her tongue. 

Kirumi blinked once again. “... You want me to explain why I don’t suspect you?” She asked, a hint of disbelief in her tone. Kaede, unable to find the words, merely nodded. The maid sighed slightly, shaking her head with a disappointed expression. “I must admit, it saddens me that you feel the need to ask, but I at least understand why. Very well. There are three main reasons,” The prim girl announced, bowing her head slightly. “Firstly, I know that you can’t so much as look at a piano without having the onset of a panic attack. You already discussed what happened when you tried simply playing one. Given that, it’s impossible to imagine you managed to kill someone utilizing it as it appears Mister Yamada was.”

Akamatsu tensed her grip on her arm slightly, but nodded. “That makes sense…” She conceded, trying to keep the shame of her ridiculous phobia out of her voice. “What else?”

“Secondly,” Kirumi glanced to the side, a slight grimace coming to her face. “I doubt anyone could fake… _ that _sort of a reaction to finding a body…” The maid put as gently as she could, though that didn’t stop the surge of embarrassment Kaede felt at the reminder. The blonde didn’t bother commenting on that, merely looking pointedly away from the other girl. Taking the hint, Kirumi continued. “Thirdly, and most importantly… I know you, Kaede. I know you would never do something like this.”

Kaede’s eyes snapped up to Kirumi’s in disbelief. Shock, confusion, anger, and finally weariness flashed across the Ultimate’s face as she stared at Kirumi with thinned lips. Was that supposed to be some kind of sick joke? She opened her mouth to retort, but Kirumi held up a hand. “Yes, you killed Rantaro… in an attempt to save the lives of fourteen other people both from the killing game itself and the time limit. While that might not make any difference for you, the fact is that it took an incredible amount of pressure for you to decide that killing was the best option, and even then, it’s as clear now as it was at the end of your trial that his death weighs heavily on you,” Tojo clarified without a hint of blame or hesitation. If anything, it sounded like she was almost vindicating her friend’s crime, just as Shuichi had insisted on for reasons she couldn’t possibly comprehend. No amount of good intentions and tearful apologies would bring Rantaro back from the dead. Kaede didn’t get the opportunity to reject Kirumi’s justification, however, as a pair of gloved hands enveloped her hands and gently squeezed. “I sincerely believe you would never take another life, Kaede. Certainly not over a motive like this one. That, more than anything, is why I know you cannot possibly be the killer.” 

Kaede could only stare at Kirumi, her regrets and insecurities wrestling with the wonderfully warm feeling Kirumi’s words instilled in her. _ “... Is this what it feels like to be on the receiving end of one of my pep talks?” _She half-jokingly wondered to herself. In truth, it certainly felt like it. It bothered her how much Kirumi basically brushed Rantaro’s unjust death under the rug, but whether she deserved it or not, Kaede would be lying if she said it didn’t feel good to be trusted so completely. It made the daunting task ahead of her seem less impossible. Kaede wasn’t the killer… but someone here was, and they wanted to blame her for it. If they were going to get through this, she needed to stay strong… just twelve hours prior, those words were an unimaginable burden. Now, though? Now staying strong didn’t have to mean slowly killing herself. She could do this with them, just like she’d promised a lifetime ago. Slowly, the corners of her lips curled upwards in a tiny, appreciative smile. “... Thanks, Kirumi. Seems like I’m saying that a lot these days, but I mean it.”

Tojo bowed her head, mirroring the expression. “Certainly. It’s my pleasure to help you however I can. In that vein, whatever I can do to aid the investigation, please just let me know and I will do it to the best of my abilities. I have absolute faith that you’ll see us through this.” Kirumi encouraged as warmly as she could, given the dire circumstances. After a few moments, the faint din of distant whispers reached Kaede’s sensitive ears, making the musician take a deep breath.

“Thanks again, Kirumi. First thing I have to do is come up with a plan. The others are on their way… I need to figure out what I’m going to say to them. I just need a minute...” Kaede murmured, more speaking to herself than her companion at that point. The maid bowed her head and moved to guard the door, giving Kaede the space she needed. No matter what, this was going to be hard. There was no easy way to look at all her friends and admit that one of them was a murderer, yet they should all work together and trust each other anyway. Some -most, if she allowed herself to be hopeful- would be smart enough to realize they at least had to cooperate to survive, but the few that were likely to give into panic and try to isolate themselves were the ones she was mainly worried about. If everyone scurried off with whatever potentially invaluable information they had, they’d never find the culprit! That’s why she needed to do something that would band them together as best she could… but what?

One of her usual speeches wouldn’t be enough. Those weren't always effective even when everyone was still breathing. Worse still, the certain uncertainty of knowing _ someone _ gathered there had betrayed everyone else but not which one of them did so was bound to weigh just as heavily on her own mind as it did the crowd. She’d have to take great care to make it clear just how seriously she took Yamada’s demise while not lashing out at anyone. More than even that, though, she needed to get a lid on their paranoia as quickly as she could, lest it devolve into baseless accusations almost immediately. So… get thirteen ex-murderers and one unknown reoffender to _ not _ suspect their fellow known murderers of once again killing someone and band together long enough to expose the odd one out before sending them to the gallows. Kaede closed her eyes, crossing her arms for support. _ “... Don’t overthink it, Kaede. Just… think of where to start and go from there, okay?” _

The troubled teen only had a few scant minutes to form a plan before the others arrived, the gaggle of a little over a dozen Ultimates crowding the corridor in varying states of emotion. She had no doubt they must have deduced who was absent by now, assuming Sakura didn’t tell them outright, and that realization was evident in their reactions. Some, like Tsumugi, Mikan, Leon, and Teruteru were visibly on edge, sweat lining their pale brows as they constantly glanced around at the other blackened. Others betrayed little to no emotion, with Celeste, Korekiyo, Gundham, and Peko maintaining either perfect stoicism in the case of the two former or unwavering, scrutinizing glares of the latter pair. Kaito looked furious, his jaw locked tight and anger flashing in his eyes like fire. The last general reaction was that of weary but contained unease that painted the faces of Gonta, Chiaki, and…

Mondo.

Kaede tensed. Hifumi was dead, and the man who wanted to see that happen more than anything stood maybe ten meters away. That didn’t prove anything on its own -and she certainly didn’t want to believe it even if it did- but the timing of it was _ horrible _to say the least. The confusion, apprehension and a flash of guilt in his yellow eyes for the split second they met each other’s gaze before he pointedly looked to the floor made it clear he must have known that all too well. She didn’t have to wonder how the biker managed to escape his room as Sakura approached her, bowing her head. “I apologize. Mondo’s door seemed to malfunction. We had to get Monokuma to open it.”

_ “Malfunctioned, huh? Right… let’s go with that…” _ Kaede quietly thought to herself. On the outside, she shook her head slightly. “It’s fine. This is everyone, right?” She asked, the unsaid _ ‘still alive’ _ as heavy in the air as if the words left her mouth. Her headcount was confirmed by Ogami’s nod, the blonde taking one last breath to steady herself… only to get cut off before she could even start. 

Kaito slammed his fists together with a growl. “Okay, no more screwing around! Whoever did it, be a man and show yourself here and now!” The astronaut roared out daringly, his teeth clenching as he glared at the group in lieu of the mystery traitor. Celeste looked at him incredulously.

“Yes, I’m sure the killer is simply going to offer their life up on a silver platter just to prove their braveness to you, Kaito. A truly remarkable strategy…” The gambler dryly mocked, earning a glower from Momota.

Sensing the upcoming argument, Kaede couldn’t help but feel a touch bitter. One of their friends was _ dead _, and they were still squabbling like a bunch of whiny kids? No. She refused to let Hifumi’s death get sidelined because of one of Celeste’s snide comments. Gathering her strength and balling her fists, she marched out in front of her surviving friends and spoke up. “Everyone! I need all of you to listen to me!” She commanded as loudly and evenly as she could, forcing her voice to stay level. In an instant, every set of eyes on the ship was upon her, a dead silence befalling the hall. The moment of dread was at hand, but she had to stand firm. Anything less would be an insult to everything she stood for. She pushed down the fear and steeled herself. It was time to be the leader. 

“... I won’t lie to you. We all heard the body discovery announcement, and I’m sure you’ve already noticed someone isn’t here when they should be. And for that, I’m so, _ so _sorry. This shouldn’t have happened… but it did, so we have to handle it. I don’t know if Sakura told you already, but… Hifumi’s dead,” Kaede sorrowfully announced. The more uneasy of the blackened as well as Kaito flinched at the confirmation while some merely closed their eyes in a show of respect or had no reaction at all. Sucking in a breath, the mournful musician pushed on. “I’m sure all of us know exactly what that means. But, if we’re going to get through this, we can’t just turn on each other, no matter how scared we feel! We all need to work together to solve this case! I-”

“H-hey, hold on for a sec! You’re telling me someone here already screwed us over and killed a dude, and you’re saying we stick our necks out and hope they don’t stab us in the back again?! That’s bullshit! Why the hell should I trust any of you guys, huh?!” Leon demanded angrily, his greyish blue eyes dilating with distrust and fear. His words generally earned him glares from the rest of the group, the athlete particularly flinching under Mondo and Peko’s warning gazes. While that made it clear most of the group agreed with her, she was more concerned with how the more nervous ex-killers were taking his words to heart, if Tsumugi curling into herself like a coiling snake was any indication. Kaede opened her mouth to shut him up… before being cut off by an unexpected ally.

“Because if you don’t, you will die.” Celeste said simply, staring at Leon with a completely blank expression. Despite not raising her voice in the slightest, the gambler’s words rang out like a gunshot, once again reducing the hall to a stiff silence. Leon blinked at her, freezing in place with pure confusion and surprise.

“H-huh…?” The baseball star numbly asked. For once, Kaede could relate to Leon, the blonde completely blindsided by Celeste’s sudden declaration.

“If you don’t trust anyone, you will die,” The gambler repeated, her red eyes burrowing into the wannabe rocker’s very soul. “That is simply the reality of our situation. Seeing as how you chose to become the first killer-”

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, GODDAMNIT!” Leon screached, glaring fiercely at the gothic girl. Ludenberg didn’t so much as blink.

“... You do not know what it is like to rely on others during an investigation, but I do. Make no mistake; I still believe completely opening up to each other to be a foolhardy mistake that invites betrayal. However, given that a murder has already occured, we’ve lost the luxury of distrust. In a life or death situation like this, you simply have to invest a certain amount of faith in those around you, if only in that they won’t act suicidally and put their own lives at risk by hampering the investigation,” Celeste calmly explained before leaning forward towards Kuwata. “For once, Kaede and I are in complete agreement: if we are to survive the coming trial, cooperation is required for the moment. Do any of you intend to get in the way of that?”

A stunned, deafening silence once more overtook the hall, no one daring to speak for several seconds. Somewhat surprisingly, Gonta was the first to respond. “Uh… Gonta think Celeste right. At Gonta’s trial, most friends not trust Kokichi or Shuichi when they say Gonta was blackened. Not even Gonta think they right. Friends fight… and almost die over it. Gonta want friends to live, so friends need to trust friends as much as Gonta does!” The Ultimate Entomologist proclaimed, determination adding an edge rarely seen in the gentle giant’s soft eyes. Kaede was so focused on the man himself that she didn’t notice the way Kaito grimaced and shamefully looked away from Gokuhara.

“Every game is easier with co-op. The more people are looking for clues, the higher the droprate for evidence will be… I think.” Chiaki added supportively. That… didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Kaede, given the gamer jargon, but she thought she got the core message. The group’s encouragements -both Celeste’s dire warning and the more lighthearted appeals of Chiaki and Gonta- seemed to be swaying the last few holdouts, with Tsumugi, Leon, Teruteru, and Mikan looking more conflicted than borderline terrified as they’d been a few minutes prior. Sensing her opportunity, Kaede moved in to seal the deal.

“I get it if you guys have doubts. That’s only natural with something like this. All I’m asking is that you find the courage to work through those doubts so we can find the truth together. Can you do that, not just for me, but for yourselves and everyone else?” Kaede pleaded, facing the entire group as a show of how important it was for everyone to agree instead of just pressuring the easily swayed among them.

After several moments, a trembling hand raised just slightly above a head of long, uneven lavender hair. “... U-um… I d-don’t know if anyone wants my help… b-but I’m willing to… ah! S-sorry for not saying yes sooner!” Mikan shrilly apologized, overlooking the fact that she of all people garnered the most courage first. Kaede shot the nurse a small, reassuring smile that seemed to at least keep her from openly bursting into tears.

Teruteru let out a forced chuckle as he fiddled with his comb, stroking his hair aimlessly. “... Heh… eheh… they say too many cooks spoil the broth… but personally, I’ve found many hands make quick climaxes. Alright. I don’t mind helping finger the culprit.”

Kaede tried to ignore just how disgusting almost everything he just said was and focused on the fact that he was willing to help. A few moments passed, the expectant eyes of the group falling on Leon and Tsumugi as the seconds dragged on. At last, a long, exasperated sigh bordering on a groan rang out as the penultimate student caved. “... Screw this, man. I’m not gonna be the one looking like an asshole this time. Just… this better not be a trick, alright?! I’m seriously gonna lose my cool if it is!” An already decidedly cool-lacking Leon warned, crossing his arms with a miserable pout on his face. Akamatsu struggled not to frown at that. He was working with them for now, which is what really mattered the most in the moment, but it kind of stung just how much he _ wanted _to distrust her. Was whatever Monokuma said about her on that tape really that bad?

Finally, the last one yet to sign on, somewhat surprisingly, was Tsumugi, who stood a few feet away from the rest of the group. In truth, they didn’t really need to get her on board, or any of the holdouts except possibly Mikan for that matter. Kaede didn’t really expect them to do a whole lot during the investigation other than for Mikan to examine the body. It was the fact that their disconnected splintered the group that concerned her. Harmony is a delicate thing, especially in a situation like the killing game. It wouldn’t do them much good if they got through the first trial only for everyone to be at each other’s throats immediately. Kaede’s goal was to encourage that sense of unity as best she could to keep any-... any _ more _murders from occurring. Part of that meant making sure everyone felt included and counted on. Hence her current challenge before they even officially began the investigation.

The Ultimate Cosplayer kept glancing around at the others nervously as she wrung her hands over and over, a deep, uncomfortable frown tugging at her features. “... A choice between a charismatic blonde pianist in pink asking me to have faith, or my gut instincts...? Oh… this choice is so much harder than the anime made it out to be…” Shriogane whined indecisively under her breath. “I… don’t really know…” She lamely announced somewhat louder. Kaito scoffed.

“Seriously?! Come on! I know Hifumi was your friend! Don’t you want to find out who did this?!” Momota demanded incredulously. 

Tsumugi flinched. “O-of course I do! He was the only person I ever met that took fan stuff as seriously as I did! He was my friend, or at least starting to be… but... someone here…" She trailed off, her skin taking on a shade of blue not dissimilar to her hair. "I-I plainly don't know if I can count on anyone right now!"

“Then there is nothing to be done except simply continue without you. Of course…” Celeste put a fist over her lips, her eyes sharp and narrow. “Refusing to investigate is rather suspect in our situation, especially when you were so close with the victim. Is there something you wish to tell us, Tsumugi?”

Shirogane’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates, shock and horror warping her expression. Before the cosplayer could even get a word out, though, Kaede was already leaping to her defense. “No, that’s wrong! We haven’t even started the investigation yet! Don’t just throw accusations at people like that!” Akamatsu fiercely reprimanded, glaring at the gambler warningly. Her gaze softened somewhat as she looked at the now even paler Tsumugi. “Tsumugi… I can’t force you to do anything. It’s up to you… but I really think you should investigate with us. This is our only chance to get justice for Hifumi. And… honestly, I think doing this will help make it easier to move on. If you still aren’t sure… what do you think he would have done?”

The bluenette stiffened. For a long moment, the cosplayer looked at the ground, her thoughts unreadable behind the worried sadness on her face. At last, a defeated hum rumbled from Tsumugi as her shoulders sagged, something between resignation and usefulness tingeing her features. "... I don't really know… but he probably wouldn't want to just be a Sachi to my Kirito. The lone wanderer trope is plainly played out, after all. So… o-okay. I'll try."

Kaede gave the meek girl a smile. "Thank you, Tsumugi. It's really great to hear that."

"It really is," A high-pitched voice hummed in agreement from behind her. Kaede swerved on her heels to find Monokuma staring at her. The monochrome menace suddenly scowled at her, raising his paws above his head threateningly. "Because cheese and crackers was that _ boring _! How in the hallowed name of the killing game did you manage to turn the first body discovery into a snooze fest?! It started off good and despairful, and then you just had to go and make it another one of your gross hope speeches!" He howled in frustration. The bear let out a tired sigh as he let his arms drop, staring gloomily at the floor and lightly kicking at it. "I really thought throwing a bunch of murderers together would be a lot more exciting…"

Kaede's face turned to stone, her hateful glare the only reaction she deigned to grant the loathsome ursa. "Just shut up and give us the Monokuma File already…" She tersed out. Their captor instantly perked up, his mechanical grin stretching even wider than usual.

"I thought you'd never ask! Technically you didn't, but I'll let that slide for now! It's my great pleasure to reveal the new and improved… _ MONOKUMA FILE _ !" Monokuma delightedly declared as a loud _ pop _sounded, the robot stretching his paws to catch a tablet that dropped from the ceiling in a hail of confetti. Kaede would have snatched it out of his hands if she wasn't afraid that would count as attacking Monokuma, the former pianist having to settle for shoving her hand out expectantly. The murderous mascot waddled over and handed the device to her with a small laugh. "Puhuhu… maybe now things will start getting interesting! Once you’ve read over the file, a digital copy will be sent to all surviving students’ monopads. Good thing, too. Considering how much time you've spent just standing around, you'll have to act quickly to make up for lost time. Happy hunting, kids! I'll be waiting…" He singsonged ominously, and in an instant, Monokuma vanished as inexplicably as he appeared.

Burying her loathing for the bear, Kaede turned back to her fellow blackened and put her plan into action. "Alright, everyone. This is it. It's a big ship, so we have to be smart about this. Sakura, Gonta, I need you two to guard the crime scene."

Gonta gave a sharp nod. "Gonta do his best! Gonta not fail friends!"

"I as well. I promise no one will tamper with the crime scene so long as I am here." Sakura agreed, her crossed arms backing the certainty of her words like holstered weapons.

Offering them a grateful nod, Kaede continued. "Mikan, can you do autopsies?"

Mikan flinched at the sound of her name, but managed a shaky nod. "N-not officially, b-but I have experience from my game. I'll try not to disappoint too much…"

Akamatsu managed a supportive simper. "I know you won't. Just trust your skills as much as I do, okay?"

Tsumiki blinked, a touch more nervousness appearing on her face, yet her hunched posture seemed to straighten a little. The nurse met her eyes for a brief moment, and it pleased Kaede to see a glimmer of determination in those palish purple eyes. "O-okay. I… I'll do my best, too!"

Satisfied, the leader gave her final instructions. "Everyone else, grab a partner or team up in groups of three and pick a room. You don't have to stay there or with each other, but stick with at least one other person at all times so we know exactly what everyone was doing when. Got it?" Kaede questioned, receiving a torrent of confirming nods and statements. "Alright. Then… keep your eyes open, everyone. Remember, we're all counting on each other. Lastly… good luck, guys."

With that, the swarm of Ultimates began to pair off, and the greatest challenge of Kaede's life so far officially began.

** _Investigation: START!_ **

Before Kaede could even think about where to start, Kaito was already approaching her with a proud grin. "Nice work, Kaede. Couldn't have done it better myself!" He praised with his signature thumbs up. She managed a small smile, the grim situation robbing her of her usual enthusiasm.

"Thanks, Kaito. If I'm being honest, I'm kind of surprised how well that went… but we'll have to think about that after we're done here. Do you wanna join up for the investigation?"

"Of course! You're my sidekick, aren't you?" The astronaut proclaimed, planting a hand on his hip like some superhero to Kaede's light amusement. Momota's brand of determination was certainly a welcome respite from the heavy situation. His talent for lightening the mood without coming across as callous was a rare one. After a few moments, his grin fell to a more serious expression. "Alright. What’s the plan, Kaede?”

Akamatsu glanced down at the tablet in her hands with a slight grimace. “Well… we should probably start with the Monokuma File. There might be something important on here…” She explained, booting up the device despite the sickening feeling just holding it gave her. Kaito huddled next to her as the screen came on in a flash of light. It opened on a normal picture of Hifumi, the word **DEAD **messily stamped across it while a general description of his measurements took up the rest of the screen. Scrolling down revealed a vertical view of Hifumi’s corpse that took up the upper-middle portion of the screen, a black and white outline of the deceased Ultimate filling in the bottom left. The entire upper portion of his head was sploched over in pink, along with two small dots of pink over his torso. Kaede’s brow furrowed as she read the description of the crime. 

** _“The victim was Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator. The victim's body was discovered in the Ultimate Pianist’s Lab at 6:55 AM. The estimated time of death was nighttime. The victim died of excessive blood loss. Their skull was caved in using a blunt instrument, and the victim was also subjected to two stab wounds, including one to the heart. No other injuries were detected.”_ **

“‘The estimated time of death was nighttime’? Huh? Why is it so vague?” Kaede question, baffled. Kaito scoffed in annoyance.

“Monokuma messes with the file whenever he thinks leaving in all the details would give the killer away. Trust me, that jackass knows exactly what he’s doing.”

The blonde pursed her lips. “... Well… that implies that when exactly Hifumi died is a big clue. If we figure that out, who did it should be pretty obvious, right?”

Kaito scratched the back of his head. “Maybe. There’s something else about this I don’t get, though.”

“What’s that?”

Momota tapped his finger over the silhouette of Hifumi. “It says he got stabbed twice, right? Well, did that kill him, or did bashing his head? If it did, why smash his head in? If it didn’t, why stab a dead guy? It doesn’t make any sense.”

The blonde crossed her arms in thought. “You’re right. There’s no reason to do both… unless…” Kaede traced her finger under the cause of death. “... Maybe they _ wanted _us to be confused. Look here. It just says he died from blood loss, right? It’s vague enough that it could’ve been caused by either of his injuries. I can’t say for sure, but… I think the killer might’ve been trying to cover up what actually killed him.”

“That’d make sense… it’s seriously messed up, but I could see it. It doesn’t really clear up which happened first, though... tch... I can’t tell which would be a worse way to go out…” Kaito cringed. 

Kaede’s lips thinned as she flicked off the device. “Y-yeah. I don’t think we’ll know for sure until Mikan’s done with her autopsy, but it’s definitely something we should keep in mind.”

**Truth Bullet added: Monokuma File**

**Truth Bullet added: Contradicting Causes of Death**

“I think that’s all we’ll get without looking around ourselves. We should…” Akamatsu paused, turning to Kaito with a small wince. “... We should probably take a closer look at him. Let’s go,” She reluctantly instructed, handing the device to the astronaut and quietly taking a breath before turning towards her lab. The door was opened wide enough to hide the piano design, but that was hardly a comfort compared to the nightmarish scene that hid just behind Gonta’s wide form. She forced herself to ignore the sinking feeling that grew with each step, putting on a brave face for the Ultimate Entomologist even as she felt borderline nauseous for the second time that morning. “Hey, Gonta. Could you let Kaito and I through? We were hoping to check for clues.”

“Ah, yes! Gonta can do that!” Gokuhara declared as he stepped aside. Kaede kept her eyes on him, a part of her quietly hoping to avoid actually having to examine the body as long as she could despite knowing the urgency of their situation. “Kirumi and Chiaki inside with Mikan. Gonta sorry Gonta no can investigate too… but Gonta do best”

“Don’t worry about it, big guy! You’re doing great!” Kaito declared supportively. 

Kaede managed a tiny grin. “Yeah! We couldn’t do this without your help.”

The look of pride on Gonta’s face warmed Kaede’s heart nearly enough to counterbalance the cold dread bubbling in her. Savoring that levity for only a moment longer, Kaede closed her eyes and stepped through the door. A lot of crime TV shows she’d occasionally see on the few occasions she watched TV said that rooms with bodies had a distinct feeling different than anywhere else. She hadn’t felt that with the library when Rantaro died. The crushing guilt of her crime was one that followed her everywhere, the only places it felt especially worse being right next to his body and under the heavyhearted gazes of her friends at the trial. Here, it was different. The underlying tension prickling at her skin like the edge of the knife was familiar, the same sickening sensation that smothered her every time she so much as thought of the piano. Less familiar was the sense of dread entirely distinct from her usual suffering, less of a smothering cloud and more akin to an icy fog, a constant uncomfortableness that settled itself in her bones before she’d even opened her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to turn and run… but she had a job to do.

Forcing her eyes open, Kaede took in the scene. Hifumi’s body still sat slumped lifelessly over the keys, now accompanied by an anxious Mikan carefully poring over him from head to toe while Chiaki stood nearby. For a moment, Kaede couldn’t tear her eyes away from the brutal sight. Hifumi’s corpse was horrifying enough in its own right to make her sick to her stomach. What the blonde couldn’t help but focus on was the sickening river of red that repainted the once pure white keys a hellish shade of scarlet. 

It was wrong. Selfish. Stupid. All number of negative descriptors came to mind, but that didn’t change the fact that the sight of the bloodstained keys surrounding what remained of the victim’s skull froze her in place, her gut twisting as her hair started to stand on end. Kaede let out a shaky breath that sounded like a distant cousin of a sob while her hands started to twitch. She should have looked away, but she didn’t. Her mind screamed at her to stand still, but she couldn’t. Kaede took unwilling step after step forward, her heart starting to loudly thump in her chest as her throat constricted tighter and tighter. Why was she going _ towards _ it?! Her legs refused to obey her, mechanically continuing forward no matter how hard she tried to stand still. Now only a few feet away from Mikan, the ivories once again seemed to shift into bloodied fangs, the phantom melody of damnation humming in her ears like the growl of hungry beast. An indescribable, absolute agony flared up in a circle around her neck. She wanted to look away, _ needed _ to look away, but she couldn’t, not when _ the collar’s so tight and making it _ ** _so hard to breath-_ **

Kaede leapt as someone suddenly put a hand on her shoulder, the ex-pianist swerving on her feet to suddenly come face to face with a tuft of silver hair and a familiar emerald eye filled with concern. “-aede?”

“H-huh?” She sputtered out, shaking her head to clear banish the disoriented confusion and focus on the girl in front of her. “S-sorry. I… spaced out for a minute there. What’s up?”

The understatement was painfully obvious to both of them, though the slight furrowing of Tojo’s brow was the only indication of as much that the maid deigned to give. “It’s quite alright. I was asking if you’d like to hear what we’ve discovered so far. I was hoping to hear your thoughts on them,” Kirumi explained, before dropping her voice to a whisper. “_ And once we’ve finished, I must insist that you let someone else examine this room, for your own wellbeing. You can’t lead us if you’re having a panic attack. _”

Kaito’s heavy footsteps signaled his approach. “Lay it on us, Kirumi. The sooner we get this figured out the better!” He declared, mercifully unaware of Kirumi’s warning.

Kaede kept a measured face, holding back a pained wince at the blunt dismissal. Kirumi was right, of course, but that’s what made it all the more frustrating. One of her dear friends was dead, and she couldn’t give the investigation her all because just being near a piano was enough to leave her a terrified, shaking mess? Damn her stupid fear and damn Monokuma for giving it to her. Akamatsu forced herself to nod. “Y-yes, please. Every little bit helps.”

The silver haired girl nodded in turn, reaching into her pinafore pocket and retrieving a small notebook. “Firstly, Miss Nanami has been taking photographs of the crime scene on her device for future reference. If anything occurs to you as the investigation progresses, she has photographs to prove exactly what the scene looked like before anyone entered. You may wish to speak to her at some point.”

Hearing her name, the Ultimate Gamer looked up from the piano and noticed the pair. “Hey hey,” She greeted as she approached, her handheld console waiting in her palms. “Everyone’s been careful not to mess with the scene too much, but some things had to get moved for us to get a better look. Here, take a look,” Chiaki offered the device to Kaede, the blonde somewhat reluctantly accepting it and looking at the screen. “This is your lab, right, Kaede? Did anything look different or out of place since the last time you were here?”

She quickly skipped past the first photograph of the view from the doorway, the image already scarred into her brain for the rest of her life. The following several photos were of Hifumi’s body from various angles, which were unsettling for sure, but seemed slightly less horrifying than looking at the actual body mere feet away. After that, the focus turned away from the body itself and onto the rest of the lab, such as the wall of CDs and records that made up the entire left side of the room, the rows of music books on the opposite end, and the chalkboard behind the piano.

**Truth Bullet added: Crime Scene Photos**

“Hmm… I’m not sure…” She muttered. Her brow furrowed as a sense of something being off hit her, the feeling increasing whenever she looked at a picture showing the body from the left or right. She couldn’t tell what it was that looked out of place, besides the obvious, but that nagging feeling wouldn’t leave her be. Akamatsu narrowed her eyes, squinting in hopes of finding whatever seemed wrong with the picture. It took her a few solid seconds of staring in the same place, but at last, something clicked. “... Hey, wait a second… is it just me, or does the shadow under Hifumi’s body look a little off?”

Kaito cocked an eyebrow. “His shadow? What do you mean?”

“Is there a way to turn the brightness up?” Kaede questioned, Nanami pointing to a slider on the right hand side of the device. Sliding it all the way up, Kaede was shocked to find her suspicion confirmed. “Here,” She instructed as she pointed towards the screen, resting the tip of her index finger against the suspicious spot. “It’s a little hard to see, but look. With how the lights are, Hifumi’s shadow should be completely flat against the floor, right?” She asked rhetorically before tracing along what could almost be mistaken for a small ink splotch if it weren’t a digital photograph, the tiny hump waiting just past the bench holding his body. “But there’s something sticking up here. See where the color’s a little different?”

“... Huh, now that you mention it, I can see something there. Hold on a sec,” Kaito instructed before suddenly marching away from her. Kaede looked up just in time to see the astronaut kneel down and stick his head under the body of the instrument. “... Wha…? Hey, guys, take a look at this!” He called out just before the harsh screech of dragging metal pierced the room. A second later, the purple-haired Ultimate popped back up, a relatively thin yet heavy-looking grid of metal in his hands as he power walked back and presented it to the trio of girls.

Kaede tilted her head at the strange object. “What is this thing? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“May I see that for a moment?” Kirumi requested, putting a gloved hand to her lips.

Kaito held it out to the maid. “Careful, it’s heavier than it looks.” He warned.

“Thank you, Mister Momota,” Tojo said as she gently took hold of Kaito’s discovery. Kaede watched as Kirumi carefully scrutinized the hunk of metal, her visible eye narrowing like a hunting hawk’s. She flipped it over and continued quietly examining it for a few moments before she adjusted her grip, shifting the grate by ninety degrees. “... That’s… peculiar.”

“Did you find something, Kirumi?” Kaede asked, completely lost on whatever discovery her friend had made. As far as she could tell, as out of place as it was, it was just a normal bit of metal. Thankfully, Kirumi had a more detailed explanation.

“... I cannot say for certain, but I believe this might have broken off of something. Notice how these sides aren’t as even as the others.” Tojo pointed out, carefully balancing the grate against her arm in one hand and trailing a finger down the points of interest with the other. Looking closely at the parts in question, the blonde could see that there were indeed some small scratches and cuts marring the surface of it. There were also a few subtle dips and and sharp points that backed up the idea of it being ripped off something else. 

Kaede crossed her arms, humming in thought. “So someone broke this off of something else, probably on accident… but why leave it here? It’s not like they didn’t notice it. I mean, wouldn’t that make a lot of noise as it snapped off?”

“Perhaps they couldn’t… Kaede, could you hold this for a moment?” Kirumi asked. Kaede quirked an eyebrow, but nodded.

“Sure, but I’m not sure what that- woah!” She cut herself off with a startled cry as Kirumi handed her the evidence… and it almost instantly fell out of her hands, Akamatsu just barely managing to keep her grip on the shockingly heavy object. Holding it as high as she could left it just below her knees, the blonde partially hunched over to support her hold. “G-geez! This thing weighs a ton!”

Kirumi bowed her head. “As you can see, it’s not very easy to hold even when someone else has already prepared it for you. Mister Momota, you weren’t able to pick it up directly, were you?”

The eccentric teen shook his head, scratching at his hair. “Nah, couldn’t get a good grip on it. Had to drag it off the platform before I got a good hold of it.”

“I suspected as much. Kaede, could you set it flat on the ground and then try to pick it up?”

Kaede pouted at her. “And screw up my nails? Kaito, try it again!” She passed the buck to him as she nearly dropped the thing on the floor, her meager strength used up. Momota’s eyes went wide.

“Huh? Hey, wait, what about my nails?!” He demanded incredulously. 

Kaede pointed a finger at him. “What do you care about your nails? You’re a guy!”

“I don’t! It’s the principle of it! Besides, this is a sidekick kind of job!”

This was possibly the dumbest argument Kaede ever had that didn’t involve Miu. The pianist crossed her arms, glowering at the astronaut as her pout deepened. Before their spat could continue, though, Chiaki simply shrugged and moved forward, kneeling down and giving it a shot herself. The gamer grunted in effort, but after three concerted attempts, gave up. “Nope. Too heavy. I don’t think anyone but Gonta or Sakura could lift that… maybe.”

Tojo nodded. “Thank you, Miss Nanami. If you’d indulge one last experiment, could you try nudging it with your foot?” The maid asked, a faint knowing certainty in her voice. The gamer did as instructed, and with some considerable effort, managed to slide the metal about a foot or so, leaving a noticeable scuff where it dragged along. Kirumi held up a finger. “That confirms it. Given this, I believe we have discovered part of the mystery behind the **unusual markings** we found earlier.”

The Ultimate Pianist tilted her head quizzically. “Unusual markings? What do you mean?”

“Please, follow me,” Kirumi requested as she walked a few paces towards the door before kneeling down. Kaede and Kaito joined her shortly after, following the maid’s gaze in faint confusion. Noticing their uncertainty, Kirumi traced a finger along a spot on the floor. “As a maid, part of my talents include recognizing when a floor is damaged or even slightly dirty, so this detail stuck out immediately. They are somewhat faint here, but,” She lightly waved in the direction of the piano, Kaede hesitantly moving her gaze upwards to find some faint scratches marring the otherwise beautifully maintained flooring. “There are scratches along the floor here, and they become particularly noticeable closer to the body. I believe the connection is clear.”

Kaede crossed her arms once again, humming in thought. “So, if I’m getting this right, you think whatever this thing is was dragging along the floor, and then broke off completely at the piano. Once it did, it was too heavy for the killer to pick it up again, so they just slid it under the body hoping no one would notice?” The blonde theorized, earning a nod from Kirumi.

“Precisely. Admittedly, where this theory comes up short is regarding what exactly this grate came from and why the killer brought it here to begin with. I don’t have an explanation for that, but I believe these clues are too closely related to be mere happenstance.”

**Truth Bullet added: Broken Metal Grate**

**Truth Bullet added: Scratch Marks on the Floor**

Kaede nodded in agreement as she rose back to her feet. “Totally. There’s no reason for something like that to be in my lab normally. It’s got to be involved somehow… but we can figure that out later. Did you guys find anything else here?”

Kirumi nodded. “Miss Tsumiki is still conducting her autopsy, but she immediately informed us that the bloodstains on his clothes don’t entirely match his obvious injuries. Upon closer examination, she found two stab wounds in his chest. It’s a testament to her expertise that she noticed such an inconsistency, given the shocking state of Mister Yamada’s remains. However, she’s focusing rather intently on this, so I would advise against talking to her right now.”

**Truth Bullet added: Inconsistent Bloodstains**

Akamatsu held up a finger. “That lines up with what we found on the Monokuma File. I think I understand the case a little more, but... Kirumi, when Mikan wraps up her autopsy, could you tell her to come talk with me?”

“Certainly,” Tojo agreed without hesitation. “Lastly, there was one final thing we discovered… or, rather, something we didn’t.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kaede asked for what felt like the dozenth time that morning. It made her feel silly to ask, but she’d rather endure that minor embarrassment than misunderstand something vital and go down the wrong track when the trial rolled around. Thankfully, Kirumi’s patience didn’t strain under her repeated interrogations. 

“When we looked for Hifumi’s monopad, we couldn’t find it anywhere on his person, nor anywhere else in the room. I went so far as to check the map, but his icon was missing as well.”

Kaede felt a rush of air to her right, and before even turning around or hearing his obnoxious voice, she already knew Monokuma would be there waiting for her. “Well, of course his icon was missing! You can’t track something that doesn’t exist anymore!” The bear enthusiastically declared, shaking a claw at them like a scolding teacher. Mikan let out a yelp, the poor nurse nearly falling to the floor in surprise. Sakura, who the blonde had somehow missed standing vigilantly in the corner next to the door, suddenly stepped towards their kidnapper in warning while the other blackened quickly rounded on him. Kaede herself would have been incredibly annoyed with the infuriating stuffed animal… if Kaito didn’t shout out his frustrations first.

“For the love of… what do you want?! I swear you didn’t used to show up this much!” Momota complained, glaring at Monokuma with a sneer. The bear glared right back, putting his paws on his hips haughtily.

“I’m _ trying _ to help you guys with your investigation! But if you’re going to be brats about it, fine! I’ll keep my vital info to myself!” He nagged at them, turning away from the Ultimates with a haughty _ harumph _.

Kaito’s scowl grew. “Yeah right! Like you’d ever-”

“Mister Momota, please, wait a moment. We cannot afford to be hasty right now.” Kirumi cut him off as politely as possible. Kaito blinked at her, caught off guard, before his fierce purple eyes narrowed.

“C’mon, you can’t seriously-”

Monokuma spun back around with a grin. “Uh-uh-uh! She said shut up, space case! Clearly your friends are smart enough to realize they should really listen to an old bear’s wisdom from time to time. Now, quiet down. The adults are talking.”

Kaito’s eyes lit up with outrage. “You…!” He grit his teeth as he trailed off, making a fist at the smug bear. Still, Momota didn’t obstruct any further, opting to quietly stew in his indignation. Monokuma’s smile only grew wider.

“Aaaanyways, as I was saying, the monopad map is _ not _magic. It simply can’t track things that don’t exist!” He repeated insistently, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kaede glared at him, once more crossing her arms.

“You keep saying that, but what does that mean?”

“Exactly what I said!” Monokuma replied, a hint of annoyance slipping into his showman like enthusiasm.

Akamatsu gripped her elbows tightly. “Hifumi’s dead, but that doesn’t mean he never existed! Stop messing with us and just get to the point!”

Monokuma fell completely silent, all signs of life disappearing in an instant as he stared at her expectantly. A beat passed. Just as the last shreds of her patience started to wear out, Chiaki spoke up. “… Wait. You keep saying, ‘doesn’t exist’. Not ‘dead’. You wouldn’t be that picky unless it was important…” Nanami pointed out, her pinkish eyes locked with Monokuma’s own. Her brow furrowed for a few moments before realization seemed to strike, the slightest twitch of her eyes revealing the Ultimate Gamer’s discovery. “... The map doesn’t track students, does it? It tracks their **monopads**.”

Monokuma’s grin bloomed. “Dingdingding! Correct!” The creature giddily bellowed, throwing his arms out to the side. “Thaaat’s right! The trackers that allow you to monitor your fellow classmates like the creepy stalkers you are-” (_ “I’m sorry!” Mikan miserably screeched in the background _) “-are actually built into your nifty difty handbooks! Of course, having all these signals going on at once is a pretty complicated and expensive process. So, once a student dies, there’s no point in cluttering up the system with their pads. That’s why you can’t find it: I took it away!”

Kaede’s lips thinned. “Well, where is it _ now _?”

The bear stared at her blankly, slowly tilting his head to the side. “... Beethoven must be a big role model for you, because I’ve never met a pianist with as poor listening skills as you.”

Kaede’s hands balled into fists, the blonde taking a daring step towards Monokuma. Behind the bear, Sakura’s glare darkened. “Don’t waste our time with games, Monokuma. Tell us what we want to know. Where is Hifumi’s monopad?” Ogami demanded, the bear looking between her and the small group of students.

Monokuma’s features took on a shade of red, an irritated growl rumbling from the machine as he threw his arms in the air. “Am I speaking Greek or something?! I already told you, it doesn’t exist anymore! Zip! Bam! Null! Gone! Reduced to atoms!”

Kaede’s eyes went wide as Monokuma’s words finally clicked. “Wh-what?! How?!” She sputtered out in disbelief. _ “Didn’t Monkuma say they were indestructible?!” _

“Why, that's quite simple! I used the pad to destroy the pad!” He gleefully exclaimed, his anger vanishing in an instant. “Before you ask, no, I’m not going to elaborate any further. I’m _ bear _ -y concerned with my privacy, you know. All you need to know right now is that **dead students’ monopads can’t be tracked**.”

**Truth Bullet added: Hifumi’s Missing Monopad**

**Truth Bullet added: Monopad Tracking**

“Anyhoo, that’s it for me! No more hints from here on out, kiddos! See ya at the trial!” Monokuma bid his obnoxious farewell before disappearing as suddenly as he appeared. Kaede simply stared at the space he’d been occupying for a few moments before pursing her lips.

“... Well… it’s good to know, at least. I don’t like how vague he’s being about this, though…” Kaede thought aloud, saying it more to herself than the others. She shook her head. “I think that does it for evidence here. But… before we go…” Kaede forced herself to ignore the guilt clawing at her throat before she even spoke the words. She _ had _ to ask. Better ask and be sorry than say nothing and end up being _ truly _sorry. “... Could you tell me where you were last night?”

It was a small mercy that Tojo was unphased by the question. “Of course. For most of the evening, I was preparing, serving, and subsequently cleaning up dinner with Mister Hanamura. I would say this probably lasted until **9 PM ** or so, at which point he retired to his chambers. Most of the other students returned to their cabins by **8:30 PM** , except for the aforementioned Mister Hanamura, Miss Ludenberg, Miss Pekoyama, Miss Ogami, and myself, though only Mister Hanamura and I stayed in the dining hall during this period. Miss Ludenberg requested a small dessert and returned to her room shortly after **9:15** . However, I’m uncertain when the others returned to their cabins or if everyone stayed in their chambers afterwards, as I myself returned to my room by **10 PM ** and went to sleep shortly after **10:30**,” The maid reported with a small bow of her head. “Unfortunately, that is all I know.”

**Truth Bullet added: Kirumi’s Account**

_ “So, as far as Kirumi knows, everyone but me was already in their room when nighttime officially started, and the Monokuma file said he died during it… we have to find out when, though. Hifumi’s body definitely wasn’t there when I left my lab last night, but what time was that? That might be the key to this case…” _Kaede thought to herself, trying to put the pieces together as she got them. On the outside, she gave the maid a reserved smile and a nod of thanks. “Thanks, Kirumi. Sorry to ask at all, but… you know.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Kaede, what’d I tell you? You gotta doubt who you gotta doubt if you want to get to the truth. ‘Sides, you aren’t a mindreader, so how would you find out if you didn’t ask?”

Tojo nodded once again. “Agreed. As Mister Momota said, Kaede, it would be more concerning if you didn’t ask. That said, is there anything else I can assist you with?”

Akamatsu shook her head. “No, I think that’s all. Thank you for everything, Kirumi. Just keep up the good work, and I know we’ll get through this alright!” She encouraged, pumping her fists energetically. 

Kirumi gave a small curtsy. “You as well, Kaede. Best of luck to you and Kaito on your investigation.”

“Who needs luck when you’ve got the Luminary of the Stars and his sidekick on the case? Don’t worry, we’ll get this thing cracked in no time! C’mon, Kaede!” Kaito boisterously declared, his cocky grin nearly as bright as the fiery passion in his eyes. 

“Well, luck or not, I’ll see you later. Goodbye for now,” The leader of the blackened bid farewell to Kirumi before turning towards the door. Despite her intentions to leave, however, the former pianist paused as she realized she’d been overlooking someone in the room the entire time. “Actually, Kaito before we go… hey, Sakura? Do you have a minute?”

Ogami shifted her gaze to the pair as they approached. “Certainly. How can I help?”

“I had a couple questions I wanted to ask you. When Kirumi and I ran into you earlier, you said you were doing a routine in your lab, right? What time did you go there?”

“I see. I woke up at a little before **six this morning ** and went to my lab shortly after. I didn’t leave again until we encountered each other,” Sakura answered. “Though you did not ask, I feel I should also mention that I was using my lab from **nine twenty until ten thirty** last night, and went to bed immediately afterwards.”

**Truth Bullet added: Sakura’s Account**

“Hold up, you were working out? You should totally join me and Kaede next time!” Kaito invited unpromptedly. Sakura hummed.

“I’m afraid my workout is a little… excessive compared to what you’re used to,” She gently refused, opting to ignore the half indignant, half cocky look Momota was giving her. Shifting her gaze to the girl, she asked, “Does that answer your question, Kaede?”

Kaede crossed her arms in thought. “If I remember right, it was just before seven when we bumped into each other… thanks, that clears something up for me. You also said you felt something weird in your lab. Did you get that feeling as soon as you stepped in?”

Ogami nodded. “Yes. I’m uncertain of what exactly caused it… though it now seems clear what I was sensing.”

“Okay… one last question… Hifumi was from your game, right? You probably knew him better than we did. Can you think of any reason why someone would have targeted him?” Kaede inquired. She certainly knew _ one _reason, but she hadn’t exactly learned a lot about what Hifumi was like during his first game just from getting screamed at by the Ultimate Biker.

The stoic strongwoman gently shook her head. “Hifumi and I weren’t especially close. I believe he was afraid of me, to be honest. That’s most of what I remember for certain about him, unfortunately. Whatever Monokuma has done to me rendered the last several days of my life a blur… including Hifumi and Celeste’s cases. I cannot remember what drove either of them to kill, or who they might have made enemies out of in doing so.”

Akamatsu did her best to conceal a frown. That… wasn’t great for Mondo. She knew he couldn’t have done it -even putting aside her belief in him over their mutual debt, there was no way he could have gotten out of his room and back in- but explaining _ how _she knew that was the last thing she wanted for either of them. Even if she didn’t, though, it wasn’t like she wanted to suspect any of her friends… but… the two of them had sworn an oath. She wanted to believe in him, because if she didn’t, she was just as hopeless. On the outside, Kaede gave a nod. “Thanks, Sakura. You’ve been a big help.”

The martial artist exchanged goodbyes with the pair of Ultimates before they left the room, Kaede deep in thought. For the first time in her life, she was investigating a crime she really knew nothing about, and if she were being honest, a part of that intimidated her. Kaede was no Ultimate Detective. That amazing ability Shuichi had to read a crime scene with as much ease as she did her sheet music was simply beyond her capability. She wasn’t unobservant by any means -she wouldn’t have become a world-class musician if she was lacking in perception- but looking for evidence was so much harder now that she _ didn’t _know who did it. With Rantaro, it was easy; she already knew every last detail of the crime inside and out. All she had to do was find the evidence to back up everyone else’s alibis until either she was the only weak link or she managed to expose the mastermind. Given where she found herself right now, it wouldn’t be unfair to say she wasn’t especially skilled at unraveling mysteries she didn’t create herself. 

Yet that didn’t mean she was just giving up. Sure, she wasn’t Shuichi, but that didn’t mean she was dumb or helpless. She just had to give it her all! Even if she couldn’t solve it by herself, between her and everyone else, they were bound to end up at the right answer! They’d already discovered a few clues, after all. The pieces of the puzzle were revealing themselves one by one. All she had to do was put them together.

“Hey, Kaede, where to next?” Kaito questioned from beside her, bringing Kaede out of her reverie. The amateur detective tapped her fingers against her arm as she thought it over.

“... I think we should check out Sakura’s lab next. She said something felt weird about it, so there might be some clues there.” Akamatsu decided. _ “I’ve got a strange feeling about it, too. Maybe we’ll find something that can explain my hunch…” _

Kaito nodded, putting a hand on his hip. “Then lead the way! We’ll blow this whole case wide open before you know it!”

With that, the pair started on their way to the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab, determined to overcome this trial. The investigation was only just getting started, but so were they.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was a little confusing! It's a lot of information, but all of it is necessary to figure out the murder. The current truth bullets, in order of discovery, are:
> 
> 1\. Monokuma File - Hifumi Yamada was found dead in the Ultimate Pianist's Lab at 6:55 AM. He was killed at some point during nighttime due to excessive bloodloss, and suffered both a caved skull and multiple stab wounds to the chest, including one to the heart.
> 
> 2\. Contradicting Causes of Death - Hifumi suffered both fatal stab wounds and a caved in skull, but which order they happened in is unclear. This might have been an intentional obfuscation by the killer.
> 
> 3\. Crime Scene Photos - Various pictures of Hifumi's body and the crime scene as a whole from various angles and locations.
> 
> 4\. Broken Metal Grate - A strange metal grate found hidden under the piano. It appears to have been broken off from something else, as it has scratch marks, dents, and pointed edges that imply it was damaged quite severely. It's rather heavy, and when slid on the floor, leaves a noticeable mark. The killer may have been forced to abandon it because of this.
> 
> 5\. Scratch Marks on the Floor - Progressively more pronounce scratch marks are scrapped across the wooden floor of the lab from about four feet from the entrance to the edge of the piano in the center of the room. Likely connected to the broken grate somehow.
> 
> 6\. Inconsistent Bloodstains - The blood on Hifumi's clothes doesn't seem to match up with his injuries quite right, according to Mikan.
> 
> 7\. Hifumi's Missing Monopad - Hifumi's monopad was found nowhere on the scene or on his body. Monokuma claims to have destroyed it, as he removes all deceased students' pads from the system.
> 
> 8\. Monopad Tracking - Monokuma says that the monopads track each other rather than the actual students. If a student leaves their pad behind, the map will still show them as being in that room.
> 
> 9\. Kirumi's Account - Kirumi claims that most students returned to their cabins by 8:30 PM, about an hour and a half after dinner. She and Teruteru were cleaning until 9 PM, when he went to bed, while Celeste went to bed fifteen minutes after. Peko and Sakura are unaccounted for by the time she went to bed at 10 PM.
> 
> 10\. Sakura's Account - Sakura claims that she was in her lab from 9:20 PM to 10:30 PM last night, and was in her lab again from shortly after 6 AM until just before 7 AM.
> 
> The list will be updated at the end of each chapter until the trial comes to a close, and the previous chapter's list will be in the starting notes. If it is used as a lie bullet during the trial, its lie variant will be listed as well. That being said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'm intrigued to hear your theories on who the dastardly villain behind it is!
> 
> -MrCynical


	11. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Deadly Life Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation continues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire country might be on lockdown right now, but we're not! Have another chapter, dear readers! But, before you do, would you be so kind as to answer this poll about your predictions for the killer before the chapter? There is another one for after seeing the evidence found this chapter as well. Poll 1 here: https://www.strawpoll.me/19565858
> 
> Side note, thanks to my lovely cowriter CSpratt, this story now has some official art! Check out the end of the prologue (chapter 2) to see it!
> 
> -MrCynical
> 
> Current Truth Bullets:
> 
> 1\. Monokuma File - Hifumi Yamada was found dead in the Ultimate Pianist's Lab at 6:55 AM. He was killed at some point during nighttime due to excessive bloodloss, and suffered both a caved skull and multiple stab wounds to the chest, including one to the heart.
> 
> 2\. Contradicting Causes of Death - Hifumi suffered both fatal stab wounds and a caved in skull, but which order they happened in is unclear. This might have been an intentional obfuscation by the killer.
> 
> 3\. Crime Scene Photos - Various pictures of Hifumi's body and the crime scene as a whole from various angles and locations.
> 
> 4\. Broken Metal Grate - A strange metal grate found hidden under the piano. It appears to have been broken off from something else, as it has scratch marks, dents, and pointed edges that imply it was damaged quite severely. It's rather heavy, and when slid on the floor, leaves a noticeable mark. The killer may have been forced to abandon it because of this.
> 
> 5\. Scratch Marks on the Floor - Progressively more pronounce scratch marks are scrapped across the wooden floor of the lab from about four feet from the entrance to the edge of the piano in the center of the room. Likely connected to the broken grate somehow.
> 
> 6\. Inconsistent Bloodstains - The blood on Hifumi's clothes doesn't seem to match up with his injuries quite right, according to Mikan.
> 
> 7\. Hifumi's Missing Monopad - Hifumi's monopad was found nowhere on the scene or on his body. Monokuma claims to have destroyed it, as he removes all deceased students' pads from the system.
> 
> 8\. Monopad Tracking - Monokuma says that the monopads track each other rather than the actual students. If a student leaves their pad behind, the map will still show them as being in that room.
> 
> 9\. Kirumi's Account - Kirumi claims that most students returned to their cabins by 8:30 PM, about an hour and a half after dinner. She and Teruteru were cleaning until 9 PM, when he went to bed, while Celeste went to bed fifteen minutes after. Peko and Sakura are unaccounted for by the time she went to bed at 10 PM.
> 
> 10\. Sakura's Account - Sakura claims that she was in her lab from 9:20 PM to 10:30 PM last night, and was in her lab again from shortly after 6 AM until just before 7 AM.

Somehow, the Ultimate Martial Artist’s Lab managed to be even more breathtaking from the side entrance than the main doorway. The room stretched on before her almost like a movie set, the luxurious and modern gym that occupied one half while the subtle and understated beauty of ancient Japanese architecture claiming the other half stood in such contrast that it almost looked like two different rooms put together and then given the same paint job to mask that fact. In the far back of the room, the false sun of the archery range shined brightly over the snow of falling cherry blossoms. 

“Woah… this place is awesome. We’re totally using this place for training from now on. Just look at that view!” Kaito all but whistled in astonishment. Kaede was inclined to agree. It would have been beautiful… if it wasn’t currently the subject of a murder investigation. Kaede brushed aside appreciation for the scene as she forced herself to examine it with a scrutinizing gaze instead.

Three of her fellow Ultimates were already mulling over the scene. Peko and Korekiyo were on the opposite end of the room, the swordswoman kneeling down to examine something Kaede couldn’t see while Korekiyo was intently studying the wall of staffs and training dummies. Closer to her and Kaito was Gundham, who stood perfectly still in the center of the gym with his eyes closed and fingertips pressed together in prayer, muttering a language she didn’t recognize in a low, hushed tone. Kaede slowly quirked an eyebrow. That seemed a little… eccentric, even by Gundham’s standards. Approaching the Ultimate Breeder somewhat wearily, she called out to him. “Um… hi, Gundham. What exactly are you do-”

“Shh!” He suddenly hissed out, the suddenness of it making Kaede take a startled step back.

“H-huh? What’s-”

Gundham opened his right eye, the red iris glaring at her warningly. “Silence, Siren. You are intruding upon the ancient spell of summoning. Any further interruption may cost you your mind, if not your very soul...” He warned gruffly before once again closing his eye and resuming his strange muttering.

Despite the Dark Mage’s threat, Kaede’s confusion and curiosity only grew. “Summoning spell? Who are you trying to summon?” She asked, staring at the gothic teen in mild bewilderment. A thought occurred to her that made the girl wince, gripping her arm for comfort. “... If it’s Hifumi, I don’t think-”

“Does your prattling never cease?” Tanaka demanded, glaring at her with clear annoyance in his mismatched eyes as a perturbed sneer crossed his face. “I repeat, Siren, if you have any regard for yourself or this investigation, you must let the ritual proceed!”

Kaito scoffed with a roll of his eyes as he planted a hand on his hip and looked judgingly as the so-called forbidden one. “Seriously? Stop screwing around with occult bullcrap and help out! We’ve got a murder to solve!”

Gundham let out a scornful grunt as he fell out of his ritualistic stance, crossing his arms and glowering at the astronaut and ex-pianist bitterly. “Tch! Wonderful! Now, thanks to you two, the connection has been torn asunder and I have to repeat the ritual from the beginning! Your reckless villainy knows no bounds, Luminary.”

Kaito’s eyes went wide with surprise only to narrow in outrage. “Villainy?! I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars and hero to all! You’re the one muttering about nonsense like a creep while everyone else is trying to figure this thing out!” Kaito pumped a fist accusingly. “There’s no such thing as ghosts or crap like that, so stop trying to summon demons or whatever and help us!”

A dry, mirthless scoff of a laugh rumbled from Tanaka. “Foolish mortal, you know not of what you speak. I have no need for the aid of demons at this time, nor do I seek communion with the dead. What I am attempting is of far greater significance than any mere man or hellspawn could achieve. I possess the only means of dispensing the fog of deceit shrouding the one among us who has blackened their heart with the blood of Hifumi Yamada! To do that, however, I must consult with my four Dark Devas of Destruction posthaste. Alas, their search for evidence has spread them far and wide, straining my binding spell so much that even I am unaware of their exact location. As such, I’m forced to resort to the dark magic of translocation to bring them to me. A ritual that _ you _have now ruined.” Gundham spitefully added after his lengthy yet confusing explanation. Kaede’s brow furrowed as she tried to translate from Gundham to English while Kaito just stared at him.

“... Uh… so, if I got that right,” Kaede hesitantly held up a finger, uncertainty clear on her face. “You sent your hamsters to look for clues, but lost them, and now you’re trying to get them to come back to you by doing… whatever that was?”

The Supreme Overlord of Ice hummed. “If you are referring to the ritual of tethered souls, then yes, that is an accurate enough comprehension of my dark actions. Do you see now the folly in your rash actions, Siren?”

Kaede awkwardly rubbed her head, not feeling particularly remorseful or justified in her actions but not wanting to aggravate Tanaka any further. He _ was _just trying to help, as… inexplicable as his methods may be. “Er… sorry, Gundham. We didn’t mean to mess up your ritual… thing. It won’t happen again.”

Gundham didn’t say anything for a moment, simply scowling at the lowly mortals before him. At last, he let out a grunt, his posture relaxing slightly. “I suppose it was but a momentary annoyance... very well. I shall let it slide… this time. But know that this mercy will not last forever. Do you understand?” He warned sternly. Kaede nodded. 

Kaito scowled right back at him. “Wait a second, didn’t you say you have a magic omnipotent eye or whatever? Why don’t you just find them with that?”

Gundham opened his mouth to respond bearing the expression of a teacher having to explain the most basic concept ever, only to suddenly pause as the annoyed certainty faded from his face and found itself replaced with dumbfoundedness tinted with a hint of dread. “Erm… w-well… ha! That’s exactly the sort of foolish question I expect from a mortal such as you!” The supposed mage laughed in Kaito’s face, confidently angling his head to look down upon the spikey-haired teen despite how clearly strained his grin was. “The All-Seeing Eye is indeed under my power, but it is far too dangerous for even one such as I to use alone! To ensure the safety of this realm, the power of the Eye must be split between myself and my Devas so as to not rip the very threads of reality asunder! That is why I cannot simply use the full extent of my awesome might in this endeavor!”

Kaede’s brow furrowed deeply, the pink-clad girl holding up a finger. “Uh…” She said, entirely unsure where to begin with _ any _of that. So, instead, she simply decided not to, slowly curling it back into her fist. “... Huh. Y-yeah, that explains it. Well… tell you what, how about we help you find your hamsters to make up for messing up your thing?”

“Wait, what? Why do _ we _have to find this guy’s pets?” Kaito instantly questioned, fixing her with an odd and slightly irritated look. She crossed her arms.

“Well, we _ did _ interrupt him when he was trying to get them back. Besides, if he needs them to investigate, shouldn’t we want to get them back to him as soon as possible?” The blonde pointed out, her inflections making it clear she didn’t want to hear an answer besides ‘yes’. Unfortunately, Kaito was immune to such nuances.

“C’mon, he’s the Ultimate Breeder. I’m sure he can find his hamsters on his own while we’re solving the mystery.”

Kaede rolled her eyes. “We can do both, you know. I’m not saying we drop everything just to hunt for them. Just, you know, keep an eye out for them while we’re investigating and pick them up if we find them. Maybe they could even lead us to some clues!”

Tanaka thinned his lips as he looked at the pair, his thoughts unreadable. “... While Kaito is right that I don’t _ need _your assistance… I would not object to it, if that’s what fate decides.”

Kaede smiled at him. “We’d be happy to!” She agreed pleasantly. Kaito, still pouting, opened his mouth to say something, but a quick elbow to the ribs and a pointed look from Kaede made the astronaut shut up and merely nod begrudgingly. Tanaka closed his eyes.

“An intriguing twist of fate… very well, Siren,” He rumbled as he reached into his coat and took out two decently sized packs of sunflower seeds. “Should you or the Luminary encounter my Devas, grant them an offering so as to indebt them to your command. Then, instruct them to return to me. Succeed, and the Tanaka Empire will not forget this favor.”

Kaede accepted the baggies, putting one in her backpack and handing the other to Kaito, who stuck it in his coat pocket. “We’ll get it done. They’ll be back before you know it!” Akamatsu promised with a bright grin. This was a great opportunity. First and foremost, if the Devas actually had managed to find some clues like Gundham told them to, it could prove to be the difference between life or death. Second and less urgent, though not less importantly, this could hopefully be the start of a more genuine connection between her and the Ultimate Breeder going forward… if he wasn’t secretly the culprit, at any rate. The tighter she got their bonds, the less likely something like this was to ever happen again. That’s what she wanted to believe, anyway.

“We shall see, Siren. I doubt your song is powerful enough to lure my Devas… but it is not impossible. Now then… what is it you seek here?”

Akamatsu straightened up, banishing all other thoughts to focus on the task at hand. “Right! We wanted to look around and see if there was anything weird in here. Have you guys found anything yet?”

Gundham frowned slightly. “Unfortunately, proof of the culprit’s true identity still eludes me. However! They cannot hide forever! Once I convene with the Devas, the truth shall be mine!” The would-be conqueror triumphantly proclaimed as he criss-crossed his hands, holding his bandaged hand up like a claw while the middle and index fingers of his right hand formed a platform for a hamster that wasn’t there. After a moment, his dramatic pose lessened slightly as the gothic man made a quiet confession. “... But I believe the Observer and Pekoyama may have found something already.”

Kaede glanced over to the other Ultimates in the room, Korekiyo now joining Peko by the archery range, and then back to Tanaka, offering him a grateful nod and smile. “Thanks, Gundham. Let us know if you find anything, okay?”

She and Gundham exchanged their goodbyes (or whatever eccentricity counted as goodbye for the wannabe supervillain) while he and Kaito opted to do some weird silent eye-argument that guys somehow entirely understood each other through. It left her baffled, but it was at least over quicker than their usual long winded monologue wars, so Kaede took what she could get. As she and Kaito made their way over to Kiyo and Peko, the astronaut dropped his voice to just above a whisper. “You saw that, right?” He questioned, earning a confused glance and raised eyebrow from his sidekick.

“Saw what? Did he do something suspicious?”

“What? No,” Momota said, a touch of disappointed annoyance in his voice. “I meant how I knocked the wind out of him with his own lore! I bet he didn’t think I was paying attention to all his magic and occult crap, but when I hit him with that demonic eye thing of his, he didn’t know what to say! I totally won that one! That’s Kaito twenty, Gundham zero!”

Kaede stared at him for a long moment in pure disbelief. “Twe- Kaito, we’ve only been here for three and a half days! How have you already had _ twenty _ arguments with that guy?!” She demanded in a hushed shout. _ “And that’s ignoring the fact that he supposedly won _ ** _all _ ** _ of them…!” _

Kaito grinned in a mixture of determination and triumph. “The Luminary of the Stars would never let a villain go unchallenged! It’s my job to get in his way at every opportunity! I mean, what kind of hero would let a self-proclaimed demon lord go about his evil schemes?” He asked without a hint of irony or self-awareness. Kaede’s brow furrowed as genuine concern started to take root in her.

“... Kaito… you know he’s not _ really _a demon, right? He’s just a teenager like the rest of us…” She asked testingly. To her absolute relief, Kaito rolled his eyes.

“Well, duh! What, do I look like Himiko or something? The occult is a bunch of bull, so obviously there’s no way we actually screwed up some ritual. I know he’s not really a baron of hell.”

Kaede let out a small sigh of relief. _ “Phew… for a moment there, he really had me going. I almost thought he really thought Gundham was-” _

“... He’s just a run of the mill supervillain that thinks demons are cool!” Kaito concluded. Kaede blinked at him numbly, unable to comprehend the fact that he _ really _ just said that. Momota’s expression hadn’t changed in the least, giving no indication of it all being a big joke or anything other than his legitimate opinion. After a couple moments, Kaito tilted his head to the side as his expression fell a little. “Hm? What’s up, Kaede?”

Akamatsu was about to point out _ everything _wrong with what he just said… but opted to simply purse her lips and shake her head instead. Nope. Not worth it right now. “... I’ll tell you later. We should hurry up and see what they found.”

They were only a handful of feet from the pair of students in question by then. The sound of their footsteps announced their presence to Peko before they could even say anything, the Ultimate Swordswoman rising from her crouch and turning to face them with an acknowledging nod. “Kaede, Kaito. I assume you’re here for the investigation.”

Kaito returned the nod as he put a hand on his hip. “You got it. Find anything yet, sidekick?”

“I _ still _ haven’t agreed to that,” Peko blandly objected as she crossed her arms. “But yes. When I came in, I noticed the gravel here was uneven with the rest of the patch. When I shifted it, I discovered this.” She stepped aside, allowing Kaede and Kaito to lay eyes on a large dark and uneven stain that tainted the otherwise immaculate stones. It was largely pooled in a single large but rough circle, the original shape of it likely lost when the stones were shifted the first time, but it was easy enough to imagine what it would have looked like once upon a time. Kaede’s nose crinkled at the faint smell of copper, a grimace crossing her features as her hunch was all but confirmed.

“Is that…?” She trailed off, already knowing the answer in both her mind and heart.

“Blood,” Korekiyo confirmed, his eyes closed as he carefully trailed his fingers over the rocks. “Quite a lot of it, and not very long since dried, at that. While I couldn’t give you anything as precise as our dear nurse is capable of, based on my own knowledge, I’d say whoever bled here did so **at least** **six hours ago**.”

Kaede stared at the bloodied ground with a heavy heart. She knew what it meant the moment she laid eyes on it, of course. She wasn’t stupid. If anything, she’d been expecting to find something like it as soon as Sakura’s words put the notion in her mind. And yet, having her theory confirmed gave no sense of satisfaction. If anything, it only made her feel resigned sorrow. “... This blood is Hifumi’s…” She solemnly announced, her voice sounding pitifully small to her own ears. Akamatsu firmly squeezed her elbow for comfort. “This is where he died, isn't it?”

“Yes, that seems the most likely explanation,” Shinguji hummed, his eyelids sliding back to reveal a pair of yellow snakish orbs tinted with morbid curiosity. "I cannot imagine anyone else losing this much blood without giving any sort of sign of injury or weakness. Plus, why else would someone take the time to try to bury it if it were unrelated to the crime? It only makes sense for this to be the blood of our dearly departed Yamada, I'm afraid."

**Truth Bullet added: Gravel Bloodstain**

"Why would he be _ here _, though? He wouldn't have any reason to come here, especially at night..." Kaede thought aloud. After a moment, she looked up from the dark pool of blood before her and towards the door leading out into the hallway. "... And how did he get all the way to my lab if he died in here?"

Korekiyo rose from his crouch, crossing his arms and once again closing his eyes. "That much is impossible to know without more evidence, unfortunately. Someone could have invited him, or he invited someone else only to meet his end, but it's ultimately nothing but conjecture unless we find proof one way or the other."

Kaito closed his eyes, gritting his teeth and balling his fists. "Damn it…" Momota hissed, pain, frustration, and anger as clear in his voice as the blood was on the ground. Kaede looked at him sympathetically. Hifumi had been her friend to be sure, but it was obvious Kaito was taking this even more personally than she was. It made sense, if she were being honest. He always said he'd have his sidekicks' backs whenever they needed him, and now one of them was dead, leaving the world alone and in a torrent of blood. She wished there was something she could say that could ease his conscience, but if he was anything like her -which he'd already proven to be on several occasions- then the words would be hollow comforts compared to the harshness of their personal judgement. Instead, Kaede went with the best compromise between helping him and continuing the investigation that she could manage.

"... Hey, Peko?" She addressed the swordswoman, her bespectacled red eyes shifting to the blonde in an instant. Kaede tried to hold back a wince as she asked possibly the most gruesome question of her life thus far. "You… probably know a lot about what swords and that sort of thing can do to people, right?"

Peko's steely gaze didn't waver in the slightest as she curtly replied, "Yes."

Akamatsu hesitated for a moment to brace herself for whatever answer came next. "The Monokuma File said Hifumi was stabbed twice in the chest. Would… it be over soon?" She phrased it as delicately as she could, more for herself and Kaito than the stoic blademaster and anthropologist.

Peko's lips thinned. "I can't say for certain without knowing exactly how he was stabbed… but assuming the killer hit something vital and retracted their blade quickly, I doubt Hifumi would have survived more than a minute at most. He'd likely have lost consciousness before that point," Pekoyama coolly explained. Kaede would be lying if she said that it didn't creep her out just how calm and unphased the other girl was as she discussed the death of a man with as much familiarity as the blonde would have explaining how the pedals on a piano work, but given the circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to object to the detailed report. After a moment, Pekoyama's lip twitched uncertainty. "... For what it's worth, I doubt he suffered long."

**Truth Bullet added: Exsanguination Report**

"I've always found it curious how so many desire a quick death, yet almost always choose the longer and more painful end of waiting for natural causes or letting disease take them. Some primal refusal to accept the end, perhaps?" Korekiyo mused, a hint of intrigue tingeing his usual light rasp. Three sets of eyes glared at him incredulously before he bowed his head slightly. "My apologies. I suppose that was rather insensitive, given the circumstances. I'll keep my ponderings on such matters to myself until our business is concluded."

After a moment, Kaede shook her head, turning back to the silver-haired warrior. "_ Anyway _… thank you, Peko. It's good to know that much, at least," The leader gratefully intoned, receiving a dutiful nod in turn. Kaede crossed her arms in thought. "Well, it looks like you guys already found one major clue. Was there anything else you guys found?"

“I noticed a large dent in the wall by the side entrance, but it lacked blood or anything that could point towards what caused it or why. All I can say for certain is that someone must have hit it with considerable force,” Peko conceded, a touch of dissatisfaction at that uncertainty in her voice. Kaede took great care to keep a neutral face. She knew _exactly _what that meant, but if it was possible to get through this case without that mystery ever getting solved, she’d try her hardest to do just that. The swordswoman shook her head shortly after. “Otherwise, I haven’t, unfortunately. My focus has been on this section of the lab only so far. Korekiyo?”

Korekiyo raised a finger, his arms still coiled around himself like a snake. “I’m uncertain of its significance, but there was certainly something that struck me as odd. If you would follow me.” He said, taking long strides towards the wall she’d seen him studying earlier. Kaede and Kaito trailed behind him until they all stood before the carefully arranged panel of weaponry. Bo staffs, nunchucks, bamboo shinai, and other martial arts weapons were proudly displayed exactly as she’d seen them the last time she explored the lab. So exactly, in fact, that she could only stare at it with a slowly raising eyebrow as the seconds ticked by.

“Uh, Kiyo? What exactly am I looking at?” Kaede asked, sparing the lanky teen a glance. 

Kaito scratched his head. “Yeah, I’ll be honest, I’m lost too. It just looks like a bunch of standard stuff to me.”

Korekiyo clicked his tongue as he stepped forward and delicately took the longest bo staff off the wall. “Ah, yes. Apologies, I sometimes forget most don’t have as trained an eye as myself. Allow me to demonstrate. As I said, it’s not a smoking gun or anything of the sort. That said, however, direct your eyes to the ends of the staff,” Shinguji instructed, tracing a bandaged finger over the point in question. Kaede tilted her head with a squint. There was… _ something _ there, but she couldn’t tell if it was any different than how the staff normally was. “Feel free to touch it if need be. Some things simply need to be felt to be understood.”

Kaede hesitated for a moment, _ really _put off by Kiyo’s almost Teruteru-like choice of words, but shyly reached her hand out. She couldn’t put everything at risk just because of some poor wording… even if it did make her skin crawl. Her fingertips gingerly brushed over the old bamboo that felt as smooth and firm as ice. It felt pretty normal, especially given that she’d never held anything of the sort before. Kaede frowned at Shinguji. “I really don’t get what’s up with- huh?” She abruptly cut herself off as her thumb brushed over something less even than the seemingly perfect sphere. Akamatsu testingly repeated the motion and once again felt a slight chafe. She narrowed her eyes at the spot in question only for them to widen slightly as she finally spotted what caught Kiyo’s eye. “... What…? It looks like it got squished here, and those look like scratches, but… how? These things are used for fighting, right? Shouldn’t it be really tough?”

Shinguji ran his fingers around the brim of his hat. “Precisely what I find so curious about it. One would imagine a tool prepared for the Ultimate Martial Artist herself would be rather indestructible, and yet it’s damaged all the same. Admittedly, there are any number of explanations for its current state, but I’m sure you agree that the circumstances make it questionable to say the least.”

**Truth Bullet added: Damaged Bo Staff**

Kaede handed the thing to Momota, letting the astronaut take a look for himself as her lips tugged downward in thought. “Yeah… it’s definitely weird, at least. Something to keep in mind. Was there anything else out of place, Kiyo?”

The Ultimate Anthropologist gently shook his head. “Unfortunately, not that I’ve discovered thus far. I’m certain the killer has made other mistakes. It’s simply a matter of time before they make themselves apparent… but that time hasn’t come quite yet.”

“Well, when it does, they won’t know what hit ‘em! I, Kaito Momota, promise you that!” The man in question unwaveringly asserted as he gave the pole back to Korekiyo. “They’ve already left a bunch of evidence lying around. We just have to look harder to see whatever it is we’re missing. We do that, and we’re bound to find something! Just keep your eyes open and something will pop up, like-”

“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Gundham suddenly and uproariously cackled from the other side of the room, all four other Ultimates snapping their gaze to him as he threw his head back with a laugh. “At last, my patience has been justly rewarded! Heed my call, mortals, for Gundham Tanaka has discovered a truth beyond any other! Come and see, if you are bold enough to approach!” He boomed as he all but dared his fellow students to check out his discovery. Kaede only spared her companion a momentary glance and a small shrug before walking over to the Ultimate Breeder.

“Did you find something, Gundham?” She asked the self-proclaimed tyrant as they approached. He smiled conceitedly.

“But of course. Didn’t I already tell you nothing shall escape my vengeful gaze even without the power of the All-Seeing Eye?” He boasted. His grand display was only met with indifference and slight weariness, however, as Peko merely crossed her arms and gave him a hard stare. Kaede could have sworn his lips tugged downwards for the briefest of moments, but in an instant it was replaced with a knowing smirk. “But enough talk. Behold, the forbidden fruit of my labor! Gaze upon it and realize the culprit’s folly!”

With that bold declaration, he stepped aside with a dramatic twirl of his coat and scarf as he threw a hand out towards his discovery to reveal… a moderately sized collection of dumbbells. While Kaede struggled to contain a slight flinch as her mind instantly leapt back to Mondo’s near-miss the night prior, after a moment, she was left staring in mild silent confusion. No one spoke for several moments, waiting for Gundham to elaborate, but the Dark Lord merely stood back at them with an expectant expression. At last, someone asked the question they were all thinking.

“... Uh… I don’t get it. What’s so weird about dumbbells in a gym?” Kaito lightly challenged. Gundham’s confident look dropped, replaced with a slight scowl.

“Surely you can’t be that blinded by my deductive might, Luminary. Look closely, and the truth shall rise like a reborn phoenix in your mind!” Tanaka commanded incredulously. Kaede frowned at him.

“Gundham, we really don’t have time to mess around. Could you please just-”

“The dumbbells are out of place.”

The novice investigator stared at Peko in bewildered surprise as the swordswoman stepped forward and began poring over the row of weights. “Huh? What do you mean, Peko?”

The silver-haired girl didn’t pause to look at her. “I’ve been using this lab for my own routines. Every time I’ve been here, the dumbbells were arranged from lightest to heaviest with their weight face up. Now, however, they’re completely randomized.” Pekoyama pointed out. With that context, Kaede could kind of see what they were talking about. Some dumbbells had numbers presumably signifying their weight imprinted onto the metal facing up from the rack while others were blank. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to their order after a certain point, where after gradually increasing in heft, they suddenly jumped from five pounds to fifteen, and then to 30 only to be followed up by two blank dumbbells and then a ten pound one. That was strange, but...

“Couldn’t Sakura have just done that last time she was here?” Kaito questioned, his expression making it clear he had no clue what this was supposed to do with anything. “If she was using a bunch of them, maybe she didn’t want to stand around sorting all of them out and just put them there for later.”

“Doubtful. Almost all of these are lower end weights. Think about Sakura’s strength. She’d likely only use something substantial for her training, yet every dumbbell out of place is **less than forty pounds**. Whoever did this probably wasn’t strong enough to try using anything heavier than that.” Peko countered with considerable certainty. 

**Truth Bullet added: Out of Place Dumbbells**

Suddenly, Peko stopped completely, her gaze locked on one particular spot. She reached down, and after a moment, raised a noticeably different dumbbell from the rest. It was somewhat smaller than the others, but visibly denser to compensate. What especially set it apart was the chalky white drywall still dusting one end of it. The sight of it made Kaede’s stomach drop.

It was hard to forget the thing that nearly killed her just a handful of hours ago, after all.

Peko studied it for a long, silent moment. Without a word, she walked towards the sliding door and stepped out of the room. Kaede didn’t need to follow her to know exactly what the fighter was testing. She quietly sucked in a breath. Well, that cat was out of the bag. There was no way they’d be willing to let that drop during the trial without some serious convincing that it was unrelated, but how on earth was she supposed to do that without revealing the truth of what happened and completely derailing everything? She had to come up with _ something _ by the time that discussion rolled around, meaning she had… _ maybe _an hour before the trial started and however long it took for that to come up once it was underway...

“This is what made that hole,” Pekoyama announced as she walked back through the open shoji. “The dent and the end of this dumbbell line up almost perfectly.”

Kaede spared a brief glance at Kaito, meeting his eyes that held the same grim understanding she did. The unspoken plea not to say anything thankfully rang loud and clear for the astronaut, who after a brief moment, simply turned his gaze back to the suspicious item in question. Korekiyo let out a low hum as he stepped closer to examine the object. “Hmm… so, whatever the reason for it, the culprit made that dent using this dumbbell, and then saw it fit to try and hide it with the others? To what end, I wonder?”

Kaede’s heart skipped a beat. Gundham was saying something, but it was lost to her ears as her thoughts demanded her full attention. _ “Wait. Mondo never took his dumbbell back last night, but now it’s in here. That doesn’t make any sense, unless someone moved it afterwards. Did… did the culprit _ ** _know about our fight_ ** _ ?” _ She realized, an icy sense of horror spreading throughout her body. How was that possible? There was no way anyone else was upstairs. Between herself, Mondo, and Kaito, one of them would have had to notice someone skulking around, right? And yet, the only logical explanation for it to be in Sakura’s lab now was if someone tampered with it after they left. But who? When? Why? The shocking revelation of that clue rattled her to the core. If the killer knew what she’d been doing and they opted to use that against her during the trial, or worse yet, someone _ else _ knew and tried to _ extort _ her or Mondo-

“Something the matter, Kaede?” Korekiyo’s slithering voice pulled her from her thoughts, the ex-pianist blinking and looking at the expectant anthropologist like a deer in headlights.

“H-huh? Oh… sorry, I was trying to think of what the culprit would’ve needed the dumbbells for,” She partially lied, giving a small shake of her head to banish the remaining fog of worry from her mind. She quickly came up with a false justification for her spacing out. “It’s just… weird. The Monokuma File said Hifumi’s skull was caved in, but we already found what the killer used to hit him over the head close to his body, and it wasn’t anything like this. If they did that, what would they need a set of dumbbells for?”

“I must admit, I’ve been wondering the same thing. It’s peculiar without a doubt… but I fear we can’t know the answer until we establish a sequence of events for the crime,” Shinguji lightly lamented. “Still, this might prove to be a critical discovery later. Well done, Gundham.”

Tanaka looked crossed between surprised and baffled for a split second before a smug look dominated his features, the supposed evil mage crossing his arms with a low chuckle. “Yes, I suppose it is, isn’t it? Expect nothing less of the Supreme Overlord of Ice!”

**Truth Bullet added: Mondo’s Dumbbell**

_ “... You had no clue this was actual evidence until Peko said something, didn’t you?” _Kaede quietly concluded in her mind. At any rate, as many terrifying questions as it raised, Gundham’s accidental discovery was doubtlessly an important one. Whoever the killer was knew something they shouldn’t. If she played her cards right, she could probably use that to find out whose story didn’t add up. She’d just have to hope she found out who they were before they made the first move. “I think we should all take another look around the lab in case there’s anything else we missed. There might be some more clues the killer forgot to cover up.”

The fellow blackened gave various signs of approval before spreading throughout the room, each taking a different area than they had previously been examining. After a few moments, Kaito was the only one still standing nearby, looking at her with an unusually serious expression. He opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head. “We’ll talk about this later,” She all but whispered, careful to keep her voice low enough that only the astronaut could hear it. Momota’s lips twitched in dissatisfaction, but he nodded. She crossed her arms as she tried to plan out her next move. “... Is there anything the two of us haven’t already checked yet?”

Kaito glanced around. “Well, we didn’t really get a good look at the gym part of this place before we met up with Peko. Wanna see if there’s anything interesting?”

Akamatsu, not having any other ideas leaping out at her, agreed. “Sounds like a good place to start. Lead the way, Kaito.”

Kaede and Kaito spent a couple minutes examining the various bits of machinery and exercise equipment for any hint of foul play to little success. No specs of blood, scratches, or even simply odd positions were found on any of them, giving them nothing to work with beyond what they already had. After a short while, basically everything in the gym had been carefully studied and cleared for any potential clues, Kaito crossing his arms in a pout near one of the ball carts. “Seriously? Nothing?” He said in clear dismay, a touch of frustration in his features. “Now I’m wondering if they did that thing with the dumbbells just to mess with us so we’d waste time looking at every random bit of junk in the room.”

Akamatsu sighed a bit, but shook her head. “I don’t know about that… but still, it’s better we looked and found nothing than skipped it and ended up missing something important, right?”

“That’s true… ah well. We’ve still got this. And hey,” Kaito’s voice lightened slightly as he reached into the nearby cart and pulled out a soccer ball, displaying it to his sidekick. “Least now we know this place has a bunch of stuff we can throw into our training. We should totally do some soccer sometime!”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play sports indoors?” She lightly teased. Kaito chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, actually. My grandma… right after grounding me for a month for accidentally kicking a ball through the window.”

Kaede’s eyes widened. “Kaito! That was probably really expensive!” She scolded, crossing her arms with a soft glare. He just shrugged at her.

“Well, yeah! That’s why I got grounded for a whole month!” He shot back as if that were any sort of defense, much to the blonde’s exasperation. 

“That still means you broke the rules, though! You can’t just break people’s stuff by being reckless, Kaito!”

Momota scratched the back of his head. “Well, yeah, but my place was way smaller than the boat. The halls here are big enough that we could kick the thing as hard as we want without worrying about breaking anything,” He argued, apparently pretty dead set on his soccer idea. “Think about it; I could beat Gundham at his favorite game, you’d get to train, everyone gets to hang out, it’d be awesome! And hey, to sweeten the deal, I’ll paint some eyes on it and pretend we’re kicking Monokuma in the face. Pretty tempting, right?”

Kaede allowed herself a small grin at that. “Hmm… that _ would _be pretty satisfying. Plus, it actually sounds kind of fun... I’ll admit, you’re starting to sell me on it. I’ll put it as a ‘maybe’ for now… but we should probably get back to investigating.”

Kaito grinned. “Alright! Trust me, it’ll be great! After all, it’s another stellar plan by Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!” The purple-clad boy gleefully declared as he tossed the ball back in the cart. His good mood was short lived, however, as a sudden high-pitched squeak quickly gave way to a growl as an irritable brown and white hamster with a chipped ear suddenly poked its head up from the mound of balls and glared at the eccentric teen, its tiny maw parted as it started hissing at him. Kaito pulled back in an instant, startled, before bewilderment overtook his expression. “Huh?! O-oh, it’s one of Gundham’s hamsters. Sorry, little guy,” He apologized, pulling out the pack of sunflower seeds as he approached. “Here, I’ll make it- _ OW _!”

Kaito cried out in pain as he yanked his hand back, clutching his index finger with both hands. The hamster’s harsh hiss only grew in volume in response to Momota’s angry glare. “You little bastard! I was trying to say sorry!” He shouted at it, shoving an accusing finger towards it before quickly thinking better of it and retracting his hand. Kaede quickly approached them, giving the astronaut a hard look.

“Don’t shout at him, Kaito! He’s just mad at you. Here, let me try,” She instructed as she retrieved her own bag of treats and opened it. She offered the small yet ferocious beast a small smile as she knelt down to close to eye level and held up her hands. “Hey there, buddy. You’re…” She paused for a moment, trying to remember which of the hamsters angrily sat before her. “Um… Maga-Z, right? Sorry. Kaito didn’t mean to scare you. Do you want a treat?” Akamatsu asked sweetly, the hamster ceasing its hissing for a moment. Kaede’s smile grew a little as she pulled a seed out of the bag and held it between her index and middle fingers in offering, slowly advancing it towards the creature. “Here you go. Who’s a good little-” Maga-Z’s guillotine-like teeth slammed down on both fingers at once, Kaede’s eyes becoming as wide as dinner plates as pain shot through her system. “_ OW _ ! _ Owowowow _ !” She cried out as she all but slammed her afflicted hand into her chest from reeling back so hard. Kaede stared at the nearly symmetrical bite marks in abject horror, slowly trailing her gaze back up to the glowering rodent in utter betrayal. “Wh- _ why _?!”

Maga-Z responded only with another hiss, his beady eyes boring hatefully into the unfortunate pair. Kaito glared right back with a low growl, balling his fist and angrily shaking it at the rodent. Kaede looked miserably at her hand, silently mourning her poor, poor fingers. Before either of them could do or say anything to further antagonize the ridiculously aggressive pet, a series of rapidly approaching heavy footfalls announced the arrival of a somewhat irritable Gundham Tanaka. “Fools! Stand back, lest you further endure the wrath of the Crimson Steel Elephant!” Tanaka bellowed, dramatically throwing his hands out in a pseudo-martial arts position as he pointed at the disobedient hamster and cautiously approached him, drawing nearer and nearer with each word. “Maga-Z, in the dark name of the Forbidden One, cease this reign of destruction. You weren’t given orders to strike out at the enemies of the Tanaka empire. This is the will of your- _ urk _!” Gundham grunted as the foul-tempered Deva sank its teeth into his bandaged hand, the breeder’s only other reaction being a brief wince followed by a disapproving glare before he hunched over and lightly blew air in its face. After a brief moment, it let go of his hand, slowly leaning back and staring at him with a scrunched-up face. It was like he flipped a switch as the previously fierce hamster submissively fell on its back and presented its belly to its master. Gundham lightly rubbed its stomach with his fingers for a moment before expectantly holding them out like a bridge between the stacks of balls and his body. The hamster quickly scurried up his arm and to his shoulder before seeming to bow its head, standing perfectly still.

“Hey, how’d you get it to do that?” Kaito asked, somewhere between astonishment at the breeder’s skills and annoyance at having been defeated by a hamster. Gundham closed his eyes, petting the hamster lightly as he spoke.

“Years of practice with both the arcane arts and the care of inhuman spirits combined with a bond forged in the fires of hell itself can result in the merging of any two beings’ souls. It is a complex and ancient magic not for the faint of heart or weak of will…” He rumbled with the slightest touch of fondness infecting his voice, though his expression remained unchanged. The hamster tilted its nose up to Gunham’s ear and squeaked just before the man adopted a dour expression. “Speaking of the weak willed, perhaps this lesson in learning to _ not _ cast orbs of destruction at my Devas will help you realize the significance of thinking before you act, _ Luminary _.”

Kaito’s eyes went wide with offence. “I didn’t throw a ball at anyone! I just put it back in the cart and he started freaking out!” He decried Tanaka’s slanderous claim, glaring at the murderous ball of fluff innocently sitting on Gundham’s shoulder. After a second, a look of realization crossed Momota’s features. “And hey, wait a second! You said you were calling these guys back earlier, right? So what was he doing hiding in there?”

Kaede tilted her head curiously as she nursed her injury. “Actually, that’s a good question. I’ve seen how well trained those guys are, so why didn’t he listen to you earlier?”

Gundham looked to the hamster expectantly. Kaede could have sworn the thing _ shrugged _at him before letting out a series of chirps, one corner of Tanaka’s lips curling up in a faint ghost of a smirk after a moment. “Hmph. It seems Maga-Z’s dedication to my commands is even greater than I suspected. I instructed my Devas to return with evidence of the culprit’s activity. Maga-Z was determined to return only when he found something of import. However, when Kaito disturbed his investigation, he unleashed a temper only rivaled by Zeus himself,” The edgelord explained. He held out a hand palm-up in front of him, his lone Deva hopping up into it and looking its master in the eye as he gently ran a finger along its back. “Your loyalty is deeply appreciated, Maga-Z… but there is sometimes wisdom in retreat. One lost battle means nothing in the name of a victorious war in the name of the Tanaka Empire.”

The belligerent hamster bowed, much to Kaede’s astonishment. She almost couldn’t believe how smart these things were. A part of her wondered if that was the result of Gundham’s talent, or if it was his natural inclination towards animals that made them pick up human habits. It was wildly impressive either way. Eccentric as he may be, there was simply no doubting the Ultimate Breeder’s ability. After a brief pause, Maga-Z rose once again, letting out a few more squeaks that seemed to surprise Gundham. “What? You say… heheheh… well done, my Deva.”

“What’s up? Did he find something?” Akamatsu asked as she rose back to her feet, wincing slightly at the air shifting over her open wound. Gundham smirked pridefully.

“Indeed. It seems the culprit tried to cast a spell of illusion around a piece of evidence… but no disguise could ever deceive the eyes of even one of the Four Dark Devas of Destruction! Watch as I reveal the truth behind the killer’s veil of lies!” He roared out as he grabbed the front of the cart and suddenly tugged it towards himself. A thunderous crash erupted as dozens of balls spilled out of the back of the cart, flowing forth like water from a burst dam. Kaede could only watch the cascade in absolute shock as a sea of sports equipment began consuming the floor, cringing and covering her ears. When the last of the reverberating whines of the scattered balls finally subsided, Kaede slowly drew her hands away from her ears as she approached the cart with wide eyes.

“No way…” She said in disbelief, unable to tear her eyes from the glaring impossibility before her.

“Th-the entire back half of this thing is missing!” Kaito yelled out. Indeed, where the back panel of the cart should have been was nothing but thin air, looking more like an incredibly uncomfortable bench on wheels than an actual ball cage. Kaede shook her head rapidly to clear her surprise as she knelt down to take a closer look at the thing. 

It was almost like a partially assembled toy; an entirely solid and convincing facade of a finished product from most angles, but if someone happened to approach it from the back with it hollowed out like this, there would be no missing the distinct lack of a fourth wall to keep its contents in place. The ends facing the open air were level at a glance, but narrowing her eyes at it, she could see slight imperfections running up and down each end. A cautious trail down the sides confirmed it, slight dips and pokes distracting from what should have been a perfectly smooth and even section of metal. Kaede’s brow furrowed as she trailed her gaze over to the door, and unseeingly, the lab beyond it. _ “... Could this be connected to _ ** _that thing we found? _ ** _ But… how? And why?” _

The trademark unsettling chuckle of Korekiyo gave away his approach before his footsteps did. “Keheheh… indeed, though that’s not the only curiosity here. Look at the wall behind it.” Kiyo instructed. Kaede’s eyes moved to the point in question to find small scratch marks dug into the finely crafted wooden walls. Sure enough, trailing her gaze between the marks on the wall and the cart practically showed a straight line between the two. The ex-pianist thinned her lips as the clues started coming together.

**Truth Bullet added: Damaged Ball Cart**

“Okay, that’s _ definitely _suspicious,” Kaede agreed as she stood back up, her gaze lingering on the evidence for a few more moments before turning to their darkly dressed assistant. “Good find, Gundham.”

The Dark Lord’s loyal companion let out a series of indignant chirps, locking eyes with the blonde. “_ And _Maga-Z?” He corrected expectantly. Kaede simply stared for a moment before she realized he was serious, a somewhat embarrassed smile coming over her as she tried not to roll her eyes.

“_ And _Maga-Z. Couldn’t have done it without you, little guy.”

“I’m not gonna thank him for biting me,” Kaito gruffly announced, glowering at the prideful pet with a hand on his hip. Maga-Z made some considerably more annoyed-sounding noises, its master’s eyes all but bulging out. Kaito quirked an eyebrow. “Uh… what exactly did he just say?”

Tanaka quickly shook his head. “Cursed words unfit for any human tongue. I assure you, Luminary, you do not wish to know.”

Kaede stared blankly at the pair, thought about what it might have said for a moment, and then quickly decided Gundham was right and she didn’t want to know after all. “We’ll just… take your word for it,” Akamatsu agreed. Shaking her head, she addressed a more pressing concern. “A-anyways… have either of you guys found anything else since we split up?”

Neither said yes to that. In truth, that was fine. Kaede had a pretty strong feeling she’d found everything of note in the room already. At least, she’d found enough to get a pretty clear picture of how things might have happened. The questions she had left were the nitty-gritty details of who, when, and why, plus a few specifics about what was used in the crime. Still, vague as a lot of it might be, she at least had a solid base to work from now. The next question she asked was in service of that, as much as she hated to ask at all: alibis. She wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or disappointed that neither of the Ultimates’ stories were especially noteworthy. Dropping all embellishments from Gundham’s account and Korekiyo’s naturally unsettling mannerisms, both seemed to go along with what Kirumi said, each man having returned to their room by half past eight and supposedly stayed there for the rest of the night. Not especially helpful, but at least it didn’t force her to suspect them any further than she had to. Giving her thanks to the pair, she and Kaito made their way over to the final unaccounted variable in the room.

"Hey, Peko? Do you have a minute?" Kaede called out to the swordswoman as they approached, who had silently been watching Gundham's dramatic reveal from halfway across the room. Her piercing red eyes felt like they were pinning the blonde in place even despite the lack of any definitive emotion. In contrast to her intimidating gaze, the girl gave a small bow of her head.

"Yes. I imagine you want to hear my alibi for last night?"

Kaede nodded. "Just as a precaution. Better to know everyone's story ahead of time, right?"

"While I know it's a rather weak alibi, everything I'm about to tell you is the truth,” Peko admitted right out of the gate. “After dinner, I left the dining room at **eight-fifteen** . From there, I went to **Sakura’s lab ** and meditated from around **eight-thirty to nine-fifteen**. I returned to my cabin without encountering anyone else and fell asleep shortly after.”

Kaede folded her arms, closing her eyes in thought. “I see… just to make sure, would you say it takes about fifteen minutes to walk from the dining hall and dorms to Sakura’s lab?”

“More or less depending on the person’s speed.” The swordswoman confirmed.

**Truth Bullet added: Peko’s Account**

_ “Well, that partially explains how she didn’t run into Sakura. One of them probably would have said something if they bumped into each other, so I guess she got back just before Sakura left…” _Akamatsu deduced. She nodded, uncrossing her arms. “Thanks, Peko. That’s everything we need to know for now. Let us know if you find anything else though, okay?”

Peko gave a firm nod. “Certainly. Assuming we do not meet before then, I shall see both of you at the trial. Goodbye for now.”

“See you later, Peko!” Kaito bid farewell with a small wave as both he and Kaede turned from her, the astronaut walking a couple paces ahead of the blonde leader towards the nearby exit towards the middle of the room. He reached out to open the sliding door, only to remain standing there in confusion when it didn’t budge. He tried a couple more times, not succeeding in doing anything but slightly jiggling the door in place. “Huh? What’s up with this thing?”

Kaede quirked an eyebrow as she raised a finger. “Have you tried sliding it the other way?”

Momota shifted his hands to do just that, but a voice from behind put those efforts to bed before they could even begin. “That door was locked when we came in. I’m uncertain why only that one is locked, but we have been unable to open it,” Peko explained neutrally. “I didn’t mention it as it seemed irrelevant at the time, but given what other seemingly unimportant details turned out otherwise, it might be worth remembering.”

Kaede studied the door for a moment, trying to think of an explanation for it. _ “Why would the main entrance be locked while the side door is open? Only Sakura and Monokuma can unlock these doors, so if Sakura locked it when she left, why wouldn’t he just lock or unlock both? Unless... maybe there’s _ ** _some reason_ ** _ Monokuma left the doors like this…?” _

**Truth Bullet added: Locked Sliding Door**

Only taking a few more moments to consider the strange inconsistency, Kaede turned towards the side entrance. “Hmm… weird, but I doubt there’s anything we can do about that right now. We should move on.”

With that, Kaede and Kaito started heading out of the room, the newbie sleuth and her partner walking side by side as she considered their next destination. With both the apparent crime scene and the actual crime scene bagged and tagged, that rounded out the places of direct suspicion. Despite that, though, there were still important questions in need of answering, the murder weapon chief among them. There were more places someone could get such a tool than she was comfortable with, but a couple places definitely stuck out in her mind. As much as she’d love to check them all, though, the musician doubted Monokuma would give them enough time. A decision had to be made…

“So, got any ideas yet, Kaede?” Kaito asked somewhat suddenly. Kaede’s head perked up as she glanced at Momota, her lips twitching in thought.

“I… don’t want to say anything for sure just yet. There’s too much I don’t know to be comfortable sharing theories,” She awkwardly deflected with a frown. “But… yeah. I’m working on it. Just trying to figure out where we should look next, actually…” Kaede paused as an idea struck her, biting her lip as she debated whether or not to ask the admittedly rather loaded question. It felt like ash on her tongue, but the fact was they had to choose as soon as possible, and that meant deciding which place on the boat was most likely to turn something up. “... Hey, Kaito? This is entirely hypothetical, but… I’ll just say it. If you were going to kill someone, where would you go to get a weapon?”

Surprise lit up Kaito’s face for a moment, a slight cringe taking its place soon after. “Tch… uh… well, the casino’s got a bunch of swords and guns and stuff like that, right? That’d probably be a good place to start.”

Kaede hummed as she nodded and stepped through the open shoji door. “Then we should probably go there next. If we’re lucky, we might be able to find-”

The musician was cut off by the sharp _ fweet _ of a wolf whistle. “Well well, if it isn’t just the girl we were looking for, right on time! And here you thought I was taking too long. Just goes to show, I always know exactly when to _ pull out _ !” A certain chef crassly joked, making Kaede stop dead in her tracks and swerve on her heels. Directly to her right approached Mondo and Teruteru, the Ultimate Chef giving her a cheeky grin and a wink while the significantly taller man sneered down at the portly chef for a few moments before glancing up at Kaede. Their eyes locked for a moment, Owada’s annoyed scowl giving way to a painful, shamed grimace almost instantly. Kaede failed to cover up part of her own, though she silently prayed Hanamura thought that was on account of his disgusting innuendo. A tense mixture of guilt and awkwardness settled in her gut at the stood face to face with the man that had nearly killed her just a few scant hours ago. She was _ really _ not prepared for whatever was about to follow, but short of just bolting away right then and there, she had no escape. Even if she had, though, she knew she couldn’t take it. If they had something related to the investigation, she’d be a damned fool to pass up potentially vital information just to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. Besides, equally important as that in her heart was the fact that she’d _ promised _to be there for him from here on out. She was a liar, that much she couldn’t change, but Kaede refused to be a traitor on top of that any longer. Plastering on a fake grin after a second, she waved at the pair of new arrivals.

“H-hey guys! What’s up?” Akamatsu asked, despite having a sinking feels that she knew _ exactly _what Mondo was there for. Owada hesitated for a moment, the former pianist noticing him clench and release his fists before he spoke.

“Yo. We, uh… need to talk. In private. You got a minute?” The biker said somewhat stiffly, not quite able to meet her eye for more than a second or two. Kaede looked at him in confusion. She could easily tell he was nervous, though Owada hid it well behind his gruff exterior. But… why? There was no way he could have killed Hifumi when he was locked in his room all night, so there was no way he was going to confess to it. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to get her in the middle of the investigation to apologize for last night, not when they all knew the stakes if they didn’t find what they needed to. Why would he need to talk to her alone, unless… she suddenly felt an iron vice clench around her heart, her blood going cold. 

_ “Unless he realized what I tried to do last night…” _ Kaede thought soberly. That would explain it… and be _ terrible _ for her. She prefered to think he wouldn’t do anything violent -his breakdown at what he’d nearly done was too heartwrenching to be okay with the idea that he’d end up attacking her again anyway- but even if he just metaphorically tore into her and left it at that, it would be devastating, especially if he proceeded to tell anyone else. It’d be entirely earned - _ god knows _he had every right to do that if he wanted after what she’d attempted- but it was still as crushing to think about now as the act had been just a handful of hours ago. If that was what he was going to talk about… well… she had no right to refuse. That was the absolute least her debt to him entailed, after all. She quietly took a breath as she glanced at the other two people around them. Kaito kept a relatively neutral expression, though his body language became noticeably more rigid, while Teruteru looked… somewhat amused, for some reason. Despite the building nervousness tickling at the back of her neck, Kaede nodded in agreement.

“Sure thing, Mondo. I don’t think anyone’s in Kirumi’s lab, so we can talk there. Teruteru, do you mind staying here while Kaito and I handle this real quick? It’ll just be a minute…”

The portly cook’s smirk grew with a small hum. “Only a minute, huh? That’s a little disappointing… but that aside, I’m afraid I can’t say yes to that. You said no one can be alone while this thing’s going on. That means I either have to go with you guys, or go where Hifumi’s body is. I think you can guess why a socialite like me wouldn’t wanna see that. I’d stay here, but, heh, well,” His smirk suddenly grew a little strained, beads of sweat dotting his brow as he tapped his fingers together. “Peko already told me she’d hurt me in all the wrong ways if I got within ten feet of her, and for once, I don’t feel like pressing my luck with that. So, looks like I’m with you guys,” He explained, a small chuckle escaping him as he glanced up into her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m fine just watching.” 

Kaede struggled to contain a shiver of disgust. Mondo made his own much more apparent, the gangster snarling at Hanamura warningly. “Keep talkin’ and I’ll knock you the fuck out and drag your sorry ass around by the ankle until we’re done. Hear me?” He growled out. Every hint of color drained from Teruteru’s face, the pervert offering only a meek nod in response. Kaede grimaced, rubbing her arm to steady herself.

“... He’s not entirely wrong, though. I did say that, and I’m not going to force someone to do something they aren’t comfortable with unless I absolutely have to…” She admitted a touch reluctantly. It certainly didn’t do her any favors to back up Teruteru’s point -nor did she particularly _ like _siding with the slightly creepy chef- but it was a matter of personal decency. For all the moral gymnastics she’d been doing ever since the start of the killing game, she simply couldn’t justify bullying someone into letting her break her own rules just to make her own life easier. She had to cling to the last few principles she hadn’t already violated if she was to ever justify her existence. She looked to the unusually silent man next to her, all but biting her lip in hesitation before she came to a decision. It was a bad idea… but all the ideas she really had these days were varying degrees of bad.“... Kaito, I need you to stay with Teruteru for a bit. We’ll be back later.”

Describing Kaito as startled would be an understatement. His purple eyes all but popped out of his head, looking at Kaede as if she had given the order in Greek. "Wh-what?! Seriously?" He sputtered out in shock. She nodded in confirmation, the surprise on his face hardening into a doubtful uncertainty.

"We'll be quick. Could you do me a favor and just wait outside or something?" She pleaded, hoping the look in her eye conveyed what she was really saying. As much as she didn't like the idea of being _ alone _ with Mondo, she'd have to get over that sooner or later anyway. Might as well start while they had to work together regardless of preference. Kaito still looked unconvinced, disagreement clear in his gaze. “ _ Trust me, _” She silently mouthed to the spacefaring Ultimate. He stared at her hard for several seconds, Kaede all but able to hear the argument in his head as he decided whether or not to grant her request. At last, he scratched the back of his head with a frown.

“... Alright. Teruteru and I will hang tight for a bit. We’ll be right outside...” He reluctantly agreed, visibly not pleased with the whole thing but unwilling to fight her on it, at least in front of other people. The idea of having them just stand around waiting on her account while the clock to the trial kept ticking was a disquieting one, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t prefer having them there as an insurance policy, as disgusting as she felt to think like that. Still, Kaede opted to overlook his _ incredibly _ poor choice of words and grasped her hands.

“Let’s head out, then,” She declared, taking the lead. It was a pretty short walk all things considered, no more than five minutes down the massive hall, but the awkward quiet that fell over the four on the way there made it feel a lot longer. She couldn’t help but glance towards Mondo every so often, even catching him doing the same to her once, a low tension settling in her as she tried to figure out what exactly she could say to him and what he’d say to her. There was… quite a bit to unpack, to say the least, and she was certain they didn’t have time to get through all of it. The only thing she could really hope for was that they could handle the most dire parts now so they could focus on whatever Mondo and his group already found, get through the trial, and deal with the rest later. When they reached the Ultimate Maid’s lab, Mondo didn’t wait for a moment before reaching for the handle and walking in, leaving the others behind without a word. Kaede managed a small smile and a wave for Kaito and Teruteru despite the bubbling worry deep within her. “Be back in just a bit, guys.”

With a nod from Kaito and no response from Teruteru, Kaede mustered up her courage and followed Mondo into the room. The once finely decorated room was considerably emptier even at a glance, nearly all of the furniture having vanished from the lab at Celeste’s command. The formal if cozy feeling of the room was gone, replaced with a distinct feeling of disuse, like walking through an empty home. Still, she didn’t have much time to dwell on that, given the situation at hand. The click of the door as it closed behind her was the last sound in the room for quite some time, a tense, deafening silence falling over the two as Mondo hid his face behind his hair by staring at the ground, the biker unwilling to face her. Kaede couldn’t blame him. She found herself at a loss for words too, the countless things she knew she should say somehow all feeling wrong whenever she tried to say them out loud. The blonde grasped her left arm, squeezing it for comfort amidst the suffocating silence. After a few more moments, it simply became unbearable, forcing her to start the conversation with a lame, “... Hey.”

Mondo didn’t say anything, the only sign that he’d heard her at all being the shameful grimace she could just barely make out behind his pompadour. The man that nearly killed her took a deep breath and sighed it out with a muttered curse before finally looking up just enough to her to see his heavy and conflicted yellow eyes. “... Hey,” He finally said, the greeting just as weak and uncomfortable as Kaede’s own. After a few more seconds of quiet between the two of them, he let out something between a sigh and a growl. “Urgh… damn it… why is this so fuckin’ hard to say…?” He trailed off, a slight sneer coming to his features as he seemed to grow frustrated with himself. Mondo rubbed the back of his head with one hand, the other balling into a fist and releasing over and over again. “... You know what? Fuck it. I’ll just say it. I know what I said last night, and I fuckin’ meant it. If I’m bein’ honest… I still do. But I _ swear _ this wasn’t me.”

Kaede quietly let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. That… wasn’t great, exactly, but it also wasn’t the confrontation she’d been expecting. She could deal with this. “It’s okay. I already know you can’t be the killer. We made sure of that ourselves when you let me lock you in your room last night,” Akamatsu steadfastly reassured. After a brief moment, though, she couldn’t help but fixate on something else he said. With a furrowed brow, Kaede raised a finger and asked yet another question she was afraid she already knew the answer to. “But… when you say that, do you mean you still think Hifumi-”

“Had it comin’? Abso-fuckin-lutely,” Owada groused with a glare. “That bastard killed the best friend I ever had. I ain’t sheddin’ a tear for him.”

Kaede struggled to suppress a burst of disgusted anger at that. On the one hand, it repulsed her how callous Mondo was being about the death of one of her friends. His complete lack of basic empathy for the departed Ultimate sparked a fire out outrage in her chest that demanded she denounce him for the passive cruelty of his words. On the other hand, though, she could also understand _ why _he was so cold blooded about it. Whatever his reasons might have been, Hifumi not only killed an almost certainly innocent person, but one of the few people Kaede ever heard Mondo speak positively about. Given how much Hifumi’s death hurt when she’d only known him for a couple days, she could hardly imagine the suffering the Ultimate Biker must have been going through at that moment. Knowing exactly who caused that pain… it was really only natural for him not to mind. In truth, if her plan had actually succeeded and only the mastermind met their end that fateful night… she wasn’t sure she would mourn them either. That thought process is what held her back from lashing out at him. 

In place of any rant or lecture, she only offered a single question. “... Are you glad he’s dead?” Kaede asked, her voice soft with saddened resignation as she awaited the biker’s remorseless confirmation. What came instead threw her off completely.

“... I don’t know,” Mondo quietly admitted after a long pause, confliction softening his often harsh features. “I mean, I should be. I _ wanna _ be. That fucker got what was comin’ to him. Hell, I was gonna do it myself until-” His increasingly loud declaration came to a sudden and severe stop, the remorseful killer falling silent as a pained look of guilt crossed his face. He balled a fist, taking a breath as the look shifted into a more manageable grimace. “... I thought it’d feel good. But…”

Mondo trailed off, shifting his gaze back to the floor. Kaede knew she probably shouldn’t push her luck. However… she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the almost complete change from the murderous contempt he’d felt for the late fanfic creator the night prior. It was… relieving, in a way. “... But?” She gently pressed, hoping to spur him forward. If it was going the way she thought it was… well... perhaps it was foolish of her to feel _ hopeful _about such a thing, but it’d certainly help ease some of her concerns about the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader if he lost his taste for vengeance.

Owada frown deepened. “... But I don’t. Ain’t sad about him dying… but I thought it’d at least be a little satisfying the son of a bitch was in the ground. There’s just… nothin’ at all. Not a damn thing…” He huffed out a sigh, almost as if he wanted to be angry about that but couldn’t bring himself to. “... I don’t get it, and it’s pissin’ me off. Why the hell can’t I feel good about this?”

“... Maybe because it’s not really what you wanted.” Akamatsu gently proposed. Mondo’s confused eyes shot up to meet hers.

“Huh? What’dya mean it’s not what I wanted? He killed Taka! Of course I wanted him dead!” He objected forcefully, holding up a hand like he wanted to strangle her words. The sight of his raised hand sent a spike of fear through Kaede, the blonde instinctively taking a step back from him before she managed to push that feeling down and forced herself to stand her ground.

“You say that, but if it was really what you wanted, you’d be happy you got it. That’s why I don’t think him dying is what you really wanted,” Kaede argued more firmly. She took a moment to figure out the best way to phrase the core of her message, wanting to be tactful without talking down to him. “... Think about it like this. If you could choose between bringing your friend back or killing Hifumi for what he did, you’d pick your friend every time, right?”

Mondo narrowed his eyes. “What kinda piece of shit wouldn’t? Course I’d bring Taka back!”

Now for the riskier part of her statement. “But you _ can’t _ . We can’t control things like that, no matter how much we wish we could,” She somberly added, her lips tugging down in regret as Rantaro’s smiling face flashed through her mind. With a small shake of her head, she continued. “What you _ could _do was hurt Hifumi for it. It wasn’t what you really wanted, but it was the only thing that you could actually control. Now that he’s gone, though…”

Mondo’s eyes widened with realization. “Wait... that empty feeling... you’re saying it’s ‘cause there’s nothin’ left for me?”

“Well… kind of. It’s because you think there’s nothing left… but that’s not true,” Kaede corrected. “As long as you’re alive, you can carry on your friends’ memories. Their wishes, their dreams… all of them depend on you. _ That’s _what you have left.”

Mondo fell deathly silent, his mouth agape before he wordlessly closed it and bowed his head, staring down at his feet. A beat passed without so much as a whisper between them. As the seconds ticked by, Kaede’s worry grew more and more. _ “... Did I say something wrong? He… doesn’t _ ** _look _ ** _ angry, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t. Please, don’t tell me I screwed up again…!” _

“... Chihiro always wanted to be stronger,” Mondo all but whispered, his quiet voice ringing out like a gunshot in the silent room. He was still looking down, but the weariness painting his tone making his regretful expression on his face easy to picture. “Kid thought he was weak, but… he already had all the strength he needed. Strength I wish I had. He just never knew it. My bro… Daiya… he wanted me to lead the gang. Be there for the guys that mattered. And Taka…? Heh...” A small, rueful chuckle escaped the ruminating biker. “He wanted to be the prime minister. I sure as shit ain’t cut out for that. But… more than that… I think he mighta just wanted a friend. Be someone else’s friend, too…”

Kaede gave a small, kind smile. “Then that’s what you have left: getting stronger, making friends, and being there for them,” She encouraged, taking a small step towards the man. He looked up at her, intently listening to the leader’s words. “I’d say you definitely have a start on those already, too.”

His eyebrow raised curiously. “What makes ya say that?”

“You, me, and Kaito are sticking together from now on. That’s our promise. Once you get to know some of the other people here, they can be your friends, too!” Kaede declared as she pumped her fists in the air with a beaming smile. “As long as you keep going forward and finding things that matter, their wishes live on through you!”

Mondo stared at her, a mixture of surprise and consideration clear on his face. “Livin’ on through me…” He repeated softly, almost as if he were speaking to himself rather than her. “... Y’know… when you said that last night, I thought it was total horseshit. Pissed me off more than anything. But… thinkin’ about it now… that’s what I was tryin’ to do for Daiya all these years. I… I fucked up my promise to him,” He sighed out regretfully, bowing his head once again. “The gang’s gone. Even if they didn’t split apart, there’s no way they’ll ever let me lead again. How am I supposed to live up to what he wanted now?”

Kaede’s first instinct was to say there’s no way his gang would turn on him… but common sense smothered that line of thought before she could say it aloud. She knew basically nothing about Mondo’s gang, his killing game, or even the man himself. Saying something like that would be ignorant at best and downright insulting at worst. “Well… you said he wanted you to be there for the people that mattered, right? I don’t know what happened between you and your gang, but… maybe that can mean different people than it used to. Maybe you could make a new gang. Not as a replacement or something like that, but just… more people you can count on, and who count on you, you know?”

Owada fell silent once again for a beat. “... The Crazy Diamonds were the closest thing to family we ever had. Built it up with our own hands through sweat and blood. Me and my bro spent years doin’ that. I know how to do it… but is it really somethin’ I can _ do _? Just make a new gang right after losin’ the old one?”

“... I can’t tell you whether it’s right or wrong. All I can say is that there’s a way forward, and no matter what you decide, I’ll be there to help you through it. That’s what friends are for, right?” Kaede promised, offering a small smile to the biker. He stared at her in contemplation, his lips in a firm, thin line.

“... Yeah. I guess they are,” He slowly agreed, before giving a small shake of his head. “Still got no fuckin’ clue why you’re so deadset on tryin’ to be my friend, though…”

Kaede tried to keep her friendly expression even as she internally winced at the phantom feeling of the dumbbell in her hand ready to end the life of the man before her. She couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or a curse how oblivious he was to just how close she got to killing him. The guilty stabs through her heart whenever he said things like that definitely made it seem like the latter. “W-well, like I said last night, I-”

“Think we could be good friends? Yeah, you said that. I’m wondering what about getting shouted at and nearly dying gave you that impression,” He cut her off with a slight sneer. It softened after a moment, the criminal glancing to the side with a frown. “Look, don’t get me wrong. It’s more than I deserve, and really, I appreciate the fuck out of it. I’m just still trying to wrap my head around why.”

Akamatsu swallowed thickly, rubbing the back of her head. Even if he hadn’t figured things out yet, it was obvious Mondo didn’t buy her friendship spiel, at least not entirely. “I…” She began, only to trail off as she found herself pulling a blank. If he didn’t believe she was just that nice a person, which she knew all too well she wasn’t, then there was basically nothing she could say that wouldn’t just be blatantly dodging the question or suspicious or both. She prayed for some sort of escape from the conversation so she could figure out an actual answer besides the truth of her crime, dread creeping up the back of her neck more and more with each ticking second. Through some miracle, she got her wish.

_ Scratch scratch scratch… scratch scratch… _

Kaede’s brow furrowed as the strange sound reached her ears, faint but decently close. “Wait… do you hear that?” She asked Mondo, just as much to confirm with him as to change the topic. Mondo’s expression hardened, the pompadoured gangster opening his mouth to presumably confront her, but she shook her head. “No, seriously. Listen closely,” She instructed, closing her eyes and listening for the sound. It didn’t take more than a moment, the soft scratching once again tickling at her ears from the right. She turned to the direction of the sound to find what looked like a white panel over the area that had been lined with various cleaning tools the last time she visited the lab with Kirumi. The ex-pianist advanced towards the strange pseudo-wall, the sound growing louder with each step until she reached for the handle and pulled it to the side to reveal… nothing? Kaede blinked… before a high-pitched chirp rang out from her feet. A quick look down revealed a decently sized orange and white hamster staring up at her expectantly. “Huh? O-oh. Hey there, little guy…”

“Huh? You find somethin’, Kaede?” Mondo questioned from behind, sounding genuinely taken aback that she wasn’t just trying to avoid the question.

“One of Gundham’s hamsters. He sent them out to look for clues earlier.” She called back as she once again pulled out the pack of sunflower seeds, this time cautiously putting the seed on the ground rather than risking subjecting her delicate fingers to another bite.

“Tch. Seriously? The hell are a buncha gerbils gonna do to solve a murder?” Owada said with a derisive scoff, earning a shake of Kaede’s head.

“You’d be surprised. One of them already found a pretty big clue,” She retorted as she observed the second of Tanaka’s pets. The brightly colored rodent picked up the treat and eagerly munched on it, letting out a presumably appreciative chirp. Once the seed was consumed, it started tapping its paws on her shoe, motioning its head upwards repeatedly, to her curiosity. “... Do you want to go up?” She asked, ignoring how silly it felt to ask a hamster’s opinion. The little ball of fluff (_ “San-D? Or was that the fat one?” _) nodded excitedly in response. Kaede somewhat hesitantly offered her hand as a platform, the hamster scurrying into it almost instantly. Once she’d raised it to roughly chest height before it leapt from her palm on top of the washing machine and started tapping frantically on the door of it. Kaede quirked an eyebrow. “The washing machine…? What’s so special about-?!”

The words died in her throat as she opened the door of the device and was immediately hit with a sickening mishmash scent of soap, bleach, and copper. Kaede wrinkled her nose in disgust, but the metallic twang of it immediately set alarms off in her head. Inside, she could see a crumpled up white table cloth. It looked relatively normal, except for a small stain that just peaked out from a buried part of it. She blinked, squinting her eyes at. “Is that…?” She whispered to herself, reaching in and pulling the thing out. The second she did so, it unfolded to its full size, a shocked gasp escaping her as she spotted the large, dark red stain in the center of it. It was slightly faded, as if some of it had disappeared from the fabric, but the identity of the substance was undeniable. “Blood?!”

“Wh-what?” Mondo’s startled voice came from behind moments before his footsteps rapidly got closer to her. She could feel him looming over her shoulder as she stared at the thing in shock. “Holy shit… that's gotta be important, right?”

Akamatsu nodded, still somewhat stunned. “Y-yeah. There’s no way this isn’t related to the case. We should go tell Kaito and Teruteru.”

**Truth Bullet added: Bloodied Tablecloth**

Less than half a minute later, Kaede was presenting the stained fabric to the Ultimate Astronaut and Chef. Kaito stared at it in a mixture of surprise and thought. “Woah… do you think that’s Hifumi’s?”

“It’s definitely not just spilled wine if that awful smell’s anything to go by…” Teruteru muttered with a cringe, slightly reeling back from the evidence.

“No shit, Sherlock. ‘Sides, who the fuck else’s blood would it be?” Mondo grumbled in response.

Before the three could get into a pointless argument, Kaede nodded her head in confirmation. “I think it’s safe to assume it’s his, and that someone didn’t want us to find it. They probably tried to clean the thing, but clearly that didn’t work. So… I think they just locked it away and hoped no one would find it.” She explained, waving a hand for emphasis.

Kaito tugged at his goatee. “So the killer **definitely came here **after killing Hifumi to destroy evidence… Tch. Coward…”

The blonde nodded once again. “That’s what makes the most sense. I don’t know what they used this for or where they got it, though…”

Hanamura clicked his tongue, cupping his chin. “Well… I haven’t had the privilege of seeing it myself yet, but isn’t there supposed to be a cafe in the casino? Our culprit could have picked it up there while getting a little midnight snack…”

The familiar sound of Momota’s fists slamming together rang out with a sharp crack as his knuckles collided. “Then that’s just another reason to check out Celeste’s lab! C’mon, guys!”

“Hold on a minute,” Mondo gruffly denied him, holding up a hand. “I won’t pretend I got an eye for detail or some shit, but this place looks a fuckton different than last time I was here. Isn’t that important?”

“I don’t think we’d find anything. Celeste had Gonta move pretty much everything in here into her room a couple days ago. Everything being out of place is probably because of that. Even if it wasn’t, I doubt we have the time to look all over here _ and _the casino.” Akamatsu answered with a frown.

Mondo sneered. “Tch… yeah, that sounds like something ‘her royal’ pain in the ass would do. Fine. Let’s blow this place.”

A squeak brought Kaede’s attention back to the Deva behind her. “Oh, right! Yeah, we’re going there next. Let me just handle this real quick,” She instructed as she fetched a couple more seeds and offered them to the significantly nicer of Gundham’s hamsters. It eagerly accepted them and promptly got to chewing as Kaede gave it the Dark Lord’s orders. “Thanks for your help, little guy! Gundham’s pretty worried about you, though, so you should go find him now, okay?” The blonde praised. Almost as soon as she finished, the hamster looked up at her and gave a sharp salute (or at least as sharp a salute as a hamster could manage) before leaping onto her outstretched hand, running up her arm, and jumping off her back.

“Wh- h-hey! Get the fuck offa me, ya stupid rat!” Mondo nearly shrieked, Kaede spinning on her heel to see him frantically swatting around as the hamster crawled up the collar of his coat and on top of his ridiculous hairdo. It raced down the short distance of his pompadour and leapt once again to a previously unseen vent before vanishing from sight, the click of its claws against the metal air duct the only indication of where it went. Kaede just barely failed to contain a giggle while Kaito and Teruteru openly laughed, all of them earning a glower for it. “... Laugh it up, assholes…”

“Sorry, Mondo,” Kaede apologized, struggling to stifle her smile. It faded as she glanced back at the bloodstained clue that prompted this whole discussion in the first place, the ex-pianist setting it down on the machine before addressing her fellow blackened. “Right… onto the casino, everyone.”

Kaito gave a sharp nod and moved for the door, the portly cook following close behind him. Kaede started after them after just a moment, Mondo by her side. As much as their conversation had improved her image of Owada, she had to admit that it felt distinctly uncomfortable to be that close with what happened. It made her feel a bit bad, but the fact was there was a reason for that worry. There was about five feet of distance between the back half and the two in the lead as they started on their way to Celeste’s lab. When Kaede went to close the gap, however, Mondo tapped her arm. “Hey, Kaede?” He prompted, dropping his voice low enough that only she could hear. The girl turned to him curiously. His lips were quirked downward in a slight frown, but his snakish yellow eyes seemed to have a sort of determination in them. He looked her up and down for a moment, his jaw tightening a touch, but his voice was an appreciative one. “... Look. Whatever reason you’re doing all this friendly shit and advice for… thanks. I’m gonna put some thought into that thing you said about buildin’ somethin’ new. It won’t change a thing that’s happened, but… I don’t know. Maybe some of this bullshit can mean somethin’.”

Kaede’s surprise only lasted a couple moments before a warm, genuine smile came to her face. “I’m really glad to hear that, Mondo. And like I said, once we get through this thing, Kaito and I will be there every step of the way. We’ve got this.” She brightly encouraged. Mondo didn’t give a response beyond the slightest tug upwards of his lip before he turned his gaze back to the hallway, but it was good enough for her.

Kaede had nearly all the clues she needed, her friends by her side, and a plan going forward. They were in the home stretch, now. If she could just get a bit more evidence, she was positive they could get through this.

All she had to do was hope they found them in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated Truth Bullets:
> 
> 1\. Monokuma File - Hifumi Yamada was found dead in the Ultimate Pianist's Lab at 6:55 AM. He was killed at some point during nighttime due to excessive bloodloss, and suffered both a caved skull and multiple stab wounds to the chest, including one to the heart.
> 
> 2\. Contradicting Causes of Death - Hifumi suffered both fatal stab wounds and a caved in skull, but which order they happened in is unclear. This might have been an intentional obfuscation by the killer.
> 
> 3\. Crime Scene Photos - Various pictures of Hifumi's body and the crime scene as a whole from various angles and locations.
> 
> 4\. Broken Metal Grate - A strange metal grate found hidden under the piano. It appears to have been broken off from something else, as it has scratch marks, dents, and pointed edges that imply it was damaged quite severely. It's rather heavy, and when slid on the floor, leaves a noticeable mark. The killer may have been forced to abandon it because of this.
> 
> 5\. Scratch Marks on the Floor - Progressively more pronounce scratch marks are scrapped across the wooden floor of the lab from about four feet from the entrance to the edge of the piano in the center of the room. Likely connected to the broken grate somehow.
> 
> 6\. Inconsistent Bloodstains - The blood on Hifumi's clothes doesn't seem to match up with his injuries quite right, according to Mikan.
> 
> 7\. Hifumi's Missing Monopad - Hifumi's monopad was found nowhere on the scene or on his body. Monokuma claims to have destroyed it, as he removes all deceased students' pads from the system.
> 
> 8\. Monopad Tracking - Monokuma says that the monopads track each other rather than the actual students. If a student leaves their pad behind, the map will still show them as being in that room.
> 
> 9\. Kirumi's Account - Kirumi claims that most students returned to their cabins by 8:30 PM, about an hour and a half after dinner. She and Teruteru were cleaning until 9 PM, when he went to bed, while Celeste went to bed fifteen minutes after. Peko and Sakura are unaccounted for by the time she went to bed at 10 PM.
> 
> 10\. Sakura's Account - Sakura claims that she was in her lab from 9:20 PM to 10:30 PM last night, and was in her lab again from shortly after 6 AM until just before 7 AM.
> 
> 11\. Gravel Bloodstain - A large pool of dried blood found in the gravel archery range in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab. It was covered up with unstained gravel in an attempt to hide it. According to Korekiyo, this is likely the site of Hifumi's death, and the blood was at least six hours old.
> 
> 12\. Exsanguination Report - According to Peko, Hifumi likely died with a minute of being stabbed. He probably lost consciousness before bleeding out.
> 
> 13\. Damaged Bo Staff - One of the bo staffs in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab appears to be slightly damaged, with scratch marks and signs of being lightly crushed.
> 
> 14\. Out of Place Dumbbells - Dumbbells in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab are out of order and randomly upside down despite Sakura keeping them in a rigid order. According to Peko, all the weights out of place are less than forty pounds.
> 
> 15\. Mondo's Dumbbell - Mondo's would-be murder weapon. It was found mixed in with Sakura's dumbbells, still partially covered in drywall from the night prior. In order to know about this evidence, the culprit almost certainly had to be aware of Kaede and Mondo's confrontation.
> 
> 16\. Damaged Ball Cart - A metal, cage-like ball cart in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab. It is completely missing one side, and was pressed up against a wall to hide his fact.
> 
> 17\. Peko's Account - Peko claims to have left the dining hall at 8:15 PM been in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab from 8:30 PM to 9:15 PM. She went to bed shortly after without encountering anyone else.
> 
> 18\. Locked Sliding Door - The main entrance to the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab is locked despite the side entrance being open. Peko claims it was locked when they began the investigation. The only ones who can lock or unlock the doors are Monokuma and Sakura.
> 
> 19\. Bloodied Tablecloth - A bloodstained tablecloth found in the washing machine in the Ultimate Maid's lab. Someone clearly tried to wash it, but the blood is still evident.
> 
> Writing Gundham and Mondo is fun, as are the Devas. Gotta throw in some laughs given the fact that this is in fact a homicide investigation, after all. Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed! Here's Poll 2: https://www.strawpoll.me/19565886
> 
> -MrCynical


	12. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Deadly Life Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the investigation comes to a close, Kaede finds herself presented with several difficult choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for being a little late with this one! Things have been a bit hectic, given the circumstances, but we've been working hard to get this out to you all ASAP! Enjoy!  
-MrCynical
> 
> Truth Bullets: 
> 
> 1\. Monokuma File - Hifumi Yamada was found dead in the Ultimate Pianist's Lab at 6:55 AM. He was killed at some point during nighttime due to excessive bloodloss, and suffered both a caved skull and multiple stab wounds to the chest, including one to the heart.
> 
> 2\. Contradicting Causes of Death - Hifumi suffered both fatal stab wounds and a caved in skull, but which order they happened in is unclear. This might have been an intentional obfuscation by the killer.
> 
> 3\. Crime Scene Photos - Various pictures of Hifumi's body and the crime scene as a whole from various angles and locations.
> 
> 4\. Broken Metal Grate - A strange metal grate found hidden under the piano. It appears to have been broken off from something else, as it has scratch marks, dents, and pointed edges that imply it was damaged quite severely. It's rather heavy, and when slid on the floor, leaves a noticeable mark. The killer may have been forced to abandon it because of this.
> 
> 5\. Scratch Marks on the Floor - Progressively more pronounce scratch marks are scrapped across the wooden floor of the lab from about four feet from the entrance to the edge of the piano in the center of the room. Likely connected to the broken grate somehow.
> 
> 6\. Inconsistent Bloodstains - The blood on Hifumi's clothes doesn't seem to match up with his injuries quite right, according to Mikan.
> 
> 7\. Hifumi's Missing Monopad - Hifumi's monopad was found nowhere on the scene or on his body. Monokuma claims to have destroyed it, as he removes all deceased students' pads from the system.
> 
> 8\. Monopad Tracking - Monokuma says that the monopads track each other rather than the actual students. If a student leaves their pad behind, the map will still show them as being in that room.
> 
> 9\. Kirumi's Account - Kirumi claims that most students returned to their cabins by 8:30 PM, about an hour and a half after dinner. She and Teruteru were cleaning until 9 PM, when he went to bed, while Celeste went to bed fifteen minutes after. Peko and Sakura are unaccounted for by the time she went to bed at 10 PM.
> 
> 10\. Sakura's Account - Sakura claims that she was in her lab from 9:20 PM to 10:30 PM last night, and was in her lab again from shortly after 6 AM until just before 7 AM.
> 
> 11\. Gravel Bloodstain - A large pool of dried blood found in the gravel archery range in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab. It was covered up with unstained gravel in an attempt to hide it. According to Korekiyo, this is likely the site of Hifumi's death, and the blood was at least six hours old.
> 
> 12\. Exsanguination Report - According to Peko, Hifumi likely died with a minute of being stabbed. He probably lost consciousness before bleeding out.
> 
> 13\. Damaged Bo Staff - One of the bo staffs in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab appears to be slightly damaged, with scratch marks and signs of being lightly crushed.
> 
> 14\. Out of Place Dumbbells - Dumbbells in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab are out of order and randomly upside down despite Sakura keeping them in a rigid order. According to Peko, all the weights out of place are less than forty pounds.
> 
> 15\. Mondo's Dumbbell - Mondo's would-be murder weapon. It was found mixed in with Sakura's dumbbells, still partially covered in drywall from the night prior. In order to know about this evidence, the culprit almost certainly had to be aware of Kaede and Mondo's confrontation.
> 
> 16\. Damaged Ball Cart - A metal, cage-like ball cart in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab. It is completely missing one side, and was pressed up against a wall to hide his fact.
> 
> 17\. Peko's Account - Peko claims to have left the dining hall at 8:15 PM been in the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab from 8:30 PM to 9:15 PM. She went to bed shortly after without encountering anyone else.
> 
> 18\. Locked Sliding Door - The main entrance to the Ultimate Martial Artist's lab is locked despite the side entrance being open. Peko claims it was locked when they began the investigation. The only ones who can lock or unlock the doors are Monokuma and Sakura.
> 
> 19\. Bloodied Tablecloth - A bloodstained tablecloth found in the washing machine in the Ultimate Maid's lab. Someone clearly tried to wash it, but the blood is still evident.

The Ultimate Gambler’s lab was, in many ways, a perfect representation of its owner. The red, grey, and black color scheme of the room’s fine decor exuded a sophisticated yet slightly intimidating aura, not helped by the grand and ostentatious size of the casino. Combining that with the slightly hazy film of smoke tinting the bright and inviting games and machines, the heavy smell of ash and alcohol in the misty air, and the showy chandeliers that stood out against the shadowy black ceiling like the lights of angler fish in the deep sea, the gambling hall was a perfect mix of elegance and subdued menace. A fitting encapsulation for Celestia Ludenberg if there ever was one. 

Perhaps it was simply the dire circumstances they found themselves in, but Kaede couldn’t help but think the place looked a lot more foreboding than it had the morning prior as she entered the room with the trio of other Ultimates, wincing slightly at the heavy smell of vice that permeated the hall. It was crazy for her to think that it had only been a little less than a day since she was playing poker at one of the tables off to the left with everything that had happened… but she didn’t have time for reverie. They didn’t have much time before the investigation came to an end, so Kaede was determined to get as much found in the limited time they had as she could. That meant picking her priorities and handling them as quickly as she could. Thankfully, it seemed she’d have a bit of a head start on one of those leads, as she could see Tsumugi and Celeste already examining Monokuma’s twisted prize exchange from the entrance, Leon hovering uncomfortably a few feet away. “Hey, guys.” Kaede called out with a small wave as the party approached the pair of girls. They turned, silvery-green and ruby red eyes soon locking onto the musician turned investigator.

“Oh. Hi, Kaede...” Tsumugi greeted with a meek wave of her own. The bluenette looked only slightly less uneasy than she had before Akamatsu’s speech, a small, worried frown adorning her features. Leon skipped any verbal introduction in favor of a quick wave and nod. In contrast, Celeste looked perfectly calm, lacking any hint of emotion in her expression except for a polite smile in favor of a near perfect poker face as the goth gave a small curtsy.

“Kaede, and others. It is good to see you again.”

Teruteru hummed, a cocky smirk coming to him as he twirled the end of his pompadour. “It is, eh? I knew it was just a matter of time before I started growing on you, Celeste. Guess I’m playing my cards right after all...”

Celeste’s cooly welcoming expression didn’t shift so much as a hair, but Kaede could practically feel the gambler’s mood sour at that. “My apologies, Teruteru, but that statement wasn’t intended to include you. Rest assured, you’re only growing on me in the same sense as a tumor; unwelcomely and to my own detriment,” Ludenberg calmly elaborated, closing her eyes with a sarcastically bright smile. “Does that adequately clarify my feelings towards you?”

Kaede’s jaw dropped, caught somewhere between shock, wanting to scold Celeste for being so mean, and yet also some admittedly guilty amusement at just how thoroughly the crude chef was denied. Teruteru looked absolutely stunned, his smile wiped from his face in favor of blank surprise, before rubbing his chin as a small chuckle bubbled out of him and he regained a confident grin. “Heheheh... that still means I’m growing on you, ‘Lesty! You might be playing hard to get, but I’m willing to bet you’re just itching to have someone put the ‘lewd’ in Ludenberg!”

_ That _ managed to fracture the gambler’s mask, Celeste scowling at him with a slightly tensed jaw. “Excusez-moi? I surely must have misheard you just then. After all, if I didn’t, I’m afraid you will _ very _much not like what comes next…” She all but growled out that last part, her eyes boring into Hanamura menacingly. Mondo had a similarly dark look, sneering at the cook, while Kaito looked more squicked out and annoyed than truly angry about the comment. Tsumugi awkwardly curled into herself, though the cosplayer’s discomfort was hardly noticeable in the face of everyone else’s much more visceral reactions.

“What the hell is wrong with you, porky?” Leon demanded with a glare, though his outrage wasn’t enough to make him draw closer to anyone else.

Kaede herself crossed her arms as she approached the short Ultimate with a glower. “Okay, no. I’m not letting that slide. Sorry, guys, but Teruteru and I need to have a chat real quick. Don’t we, Teruteru?” She stated in a hard voice, all but directly challenging him to refuse. His entertained look vanished instantly, morphing from the stunned look he had a few moments prior to a genuinely nervous expression as sweat started to form at his brow.

“H-huh? Oh, no, we don’t need anything like that, it was just a-” His words died in his throat as Kaede’s glare darkened, tensing her grip on each arm in an unspoken threat. Hanamura stared at her for a moment, his tannish skin turning a ghostly white before he gave a quick, obedient nod. “Um. Yes ma’am. L-lead the way…”

“You mind if I join in?” Mondo gruffed, giving Teruteru a threatening smirk that visibly made the boy tense. Kaede shook her head.

“No, you and Kaito stay here. Hey, you three? Do me a favor and tell them anything you found so far. We might take a bit…” Akamatsu requested, her voice losing most of its ire as she addressed the others before hardening once again as she glanced at the uncharacteristically quiet chef she was about to read the riot act. Kaito scratched his head through a nod.

“Uh, sure thing, Kaede. See you in a bit,” Momota bid farewell while Mondo simply glared at Teruteru without another word. Celeste’s outrage had subdued itself into merely a hint of bitter satisfaction at seeing quite possibly her most loathed student on the boat so completely cowed in the face of Akamatsu’s quiet anger. Tsumugi basically just tried to pretend she wasn’t there. With her intentions well established, Kaede briefly scanned over the room to identify the cafe before starting her march there with Teruteru reluctantly in tow. If she was going to have to waste time bickering with the Ultimate Chef and his sick sense of humor, she’d at least do her best to investigate at the same time. As she walked away, she pretended not to hear Kaito drop his voice to a mumble. “_ ... Geez… I almost feel bad for the guy. Kaede can be pretty feisty when she’s pissed. Hate to be him… _”

“_ She’s almost like a reverse tsundere… it’s a neat twist on the formula, but managing to set her off must be like setting yourself up for an emotional Ora Ora-ing! _” Tsumugi agreed, sounding somewhere between intimidated and enthused. Celeste let out a pleased hum.

“_ Your sympathies are misplaced. Frankly, my only disappointment here is that I don’t get to witness his comeuppance. _”

Mondo rumbled out something between a scoff and a chuckle. “_ Heh. Finally, something we can agree on. Halle-fuckin-lujah. _”

“_ Why do I keep getting locked up with weirdos that say disgusting crap like that…? Hell, maybe it’ll be a good thing if she freaks out on him. _” Kuwata muttered more to himself than anyone in particular.

Kade thinned her lips. It wasn’t like she was doing this to be mean! Wanting someone to be a little less creepy towards every girl he met surely wasn’t that bad of a wish. And sure, she was pretty mad, but that was because he already promised to stop and was going back on that! Her pink irises flicked over to Teruteru. His beady eyes were focused on the floor, his lips turned downward in a nervous pout while he kept tapping his fingertips anxiously. He had the defeated slump of someone who knew they’d already lost the game and was simply waiting for their strike on the record. With his bowed head and prisoner’s gait, Kaede couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for him. 

_ “What he was saying was really, _ ** _really _ ** _ gross… but… he was joking, wasn’t he…? Did I snap at him a bit too much?” _She pondered, starting to regret her forcefulness despite the blonde’s lingering anger. It wouldn’t be that strange to think that she was more aggressive towards his behavior than she’d normally be. God knows she was already tense enough with everything going on without having to deal with Teruteru’s crass remarks on top of it. Yet, in place of his usual arrogance was a constant uneasy fidgeting she’d mostly come to associate with Mikan. Kaede turned away from him before she let her features soften, the former maestro rethinking her plan. It would be easy to just yell at him, but that wouldn’t really do anything to solve the problem other than make him afraid of her. No, if she wanted things to change, she had to get to the heart of the matter. Reaching the front of the cafe, Kaede stopped and turned to Teruteru, her angry scowl replaced with a carefully measured frown. Hanamura glanced up at her for a brief moment before quickly looking back to the ground with a cringe. After a few moments of silence, she sighed, crossing her arms. “Look… I’ll be honest, I’m still really annoyed at you,” Kaede started, allowing a slight glower to cross over her face before shaking her head. “But we’re not going to get anywhere if I just yell at you over and over. So… I’m willing to hear you out while we look around. Explain yourself.”

Teruteru’s head snapped up to her in total shock, staring at her with eyes as wide as dinner plates. “H-huh? Wait, ya mean it?” He stammered out in pure disbelief, his voice taking on a slight twang as his accent seemed to slip. Kaede nodded.

“I mean it. I want to know why you constantly say weird things like that so I can help get you past it. You can’t tune a piano without knowing which chords are off, after all.”

The tension gradually seemed to fade from Teruteru’s shoulders as he took out his comb and awkwardly started messing with his hair. “... I didn’t mean anything by it. Honest. Just wanted a laugh was all...” He weakly defended, trepidation mixing with the hint of country drawl. Kaede’s frown deepened at that as she began to examine the tables for any indication of where the bloodied cloth came from. It was easy enough to tell at a glance that none of these tables were the ones to lose their coverings, but she was taking a closer look to see if they were made of the same material and had close enough measurements in case it had been taken from the same stock or such.

“What you said to Celeste was a little more than just a joke…” Kaede lightly pressed, shooting a glance to him. He shrugged.

“Humor’s like food and beautiful women, Kaede; everyone’s sense for what makes it good is different. Some people like things sweet and bubbly, while others have a taste for something that gives them a little bite, and some that don’t care as long as they skimp out on the dressing and they’ve got some melons to go with it. Occasionally you’ll get someone with a sort of neapolitan charm of all three like yourself-”

Kaede’s eyes snapped to him as she scowled bitterly. “_ Excuse me _? I said I’d let you explain yourself, not make jokes about my… you know!” Akamatsu harshly scolded with clenched fists and a slight blush. Embarrassment and anger mixed together as they so often seemed to in the little creep’s presence, the sickening sting of objectification adding fuel to her existing aggravation. Some of his old nervousness came back, sweat glistening his brow yet again, but he kept a ghost of his smirk.

“S-sorry. I don’t mean to get those pretty panties of yours in a bunch- er,” He suddenly stopped, the last traces of his self-assured smile vanishing in favor of a grimace. “I mean, I’m not trying to make people mad, you included. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m trying to make everyone feel as good as they can… well, good as good as they can without using my tongue for a little more than words, anyway- nonono, I-I mean, it’s for lightening the mood! C-cause not everyone’s as good with their fingers as the Ultimate Pianist, you know? W-wait, that didn’t-!”

An exasperated growl hissed out of Kaede as she all but shoved off of the table and slammed her palms down on it. “Enough! I’m sick of it!” She shouted, shoving an accusing finger towards Teruteru. “I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt with everything going on, but all you’ve done is make disgusting jokes and BS excuses! Didn’t that second chance I offered mean anything to you?!”

Hanamura defensively threw his hands up with an expression of desperate mortification. “N-now hold on! I was jokin’ ‘cause things are gettin’ oh-so tense, y’see? With Hifumi d-d-_ dyin _’ an’ de trial, a-an’ what ‘appen’de last time-!” Teruteru flinched as his skin started to pale, raising his fists up with angry panic dominating his face. “Ah-ah-ah g-got fried to a damn crisp! YI’know dat?! Less’en a week ago! Wasso wrong about a lil joke after dat, eh?!” He demanded with a teary-eyed glare, the boy shaking as his words became more and more incomprehensible with every syllable of his rant. Kaede instinctively put up her hands in a calming gesture.

“W-woah! Calm down! I-it’s okay!” The blonde frantically tried to pacify him. The chef kept trembling in place as tears started streaming down his cheeks. Kaede could only stare at him like a deer in headlights as her brain struggled to process how exactly he’d gone from almost perfectly fine to a blubbering, panicking mess in mere minutes. She certainly hadn’t _ meant _ for that to happen. She was just trying to help him and lost her temper, not trying to make him cry! Guilt flooded Akamatsu’s heart as her rage evaporated and she came to her senses, stepping away from the table and quickly joining by his side. “Teruteru, I’m _ so _sorry, I didn’t mean to- h-huh?!”

The moment she got within arm’s length of him, Teruteru launched forward and desperately wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her vest with a despairful wail. Kaede’s hands hovered in the air as he hugged her, the girl completely at a loss for what she should do. Gently push him off? Hug him back? Neither? She’d done it for Mikan, but Mikan hadn’t been making innuendos about her immediately prior. On the other hand, unlike with Mikan, she was arguably the reason he was having such a reaction. She’d been the one to keep pressuring him before ultimately snapping at him, after all. 

_ “Great going there, Kaede… geez…” _She mentally scolded herself. After a few moments, Kaede awkwardly rested her hands on his shoulders for lack of any better ideas. “Uh… there, there… it’s alright…”

For the next several minutes, Kaede stood there attempting to console the distraught Teruteru as he sobbed and bawled seemingly endlessly. It wasn’t how she expected this conversation to go _ at all _. She could only quietly be there for the former blackened she’d accidentally pushed over the edge, attempting to give the same wordless comfort Kirumi provided for her. Kaede forced herself to push down the awkwardness of the situation and focus on waiting out his emotional breakdown. After what felt like an hour, Hanamura’s whimpers finally started to subside as his grip around her went lax. He blearily looked up at her through puffy red eyes, his face flushed and nose running. Ignoring the small part of her mourning the mess he must have made of her vest, Kaede gave him a sympathetic look. “Hey,” She softly greeted, putting on a reassuring ghost of a smile. “It’s alright now. Do you feel better?”

He stared at her for a few moments before giving a small, almost unmoving nod. “... Mhm… y-yeah… Ah thinksa, anyway… erm,” He took a moment to clear his throat, testing his jaw a few times before continuing. “I mean, just fine, thank you. After all, what boy wouldn’t be fine with such a great view of the valley?” Teruteru remarked with a small smirk as he slipped back into his so-called ‘city’ voice. It took her a second to understand, but the moment she did, Kaede’s lips turned downwards as she let out a tired sigh and stepped out of his hold. She’d object to the remark much more fiercely under any circumstances, but given the breakdown he’d just had, she didn’t want to send him down another emotional rabbit hole over a stupid joke. No sense in risking making him suffer legitimate emotional trauma for some petty revenge _ and _keep throwing away the precious time they had left to investigate. To her surprise, however, his lascivious smirk faded away into a grimace. “... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Kaede crossed her arms, looking at him with a mix of tired weariness and slightly strained sympathy. “There’s not a lot of ways you _ can _mean something like that even as a joke, Teruteru…” She counted, careful to keep a neutral tone lest he freak out again.

Hanamura’s frown deepened, the chef looking away as he started toying with his hair again. “... Okay, fine. I _ did _mean it like that. But I didn’t mean to say it!” He quickly added, throwing his hands up as if she might rip his throat out for the confession. Akamatsu’s eyes widened curiously as she unfolded her arms.

“You didn’t mean to say it? But… why did you, then?”

The chef rubbed the back of his neck. “I… I don’t really know. It’s just… stuff like that makes me laugh. It’s funny getting a rise out of people, you know? Seeing people go pink and flustered tickles something just the right way. Whenever things start getting to me, I feel like I should lighten the mood, so I start joking around. But… it’s like I can’t help myself once I get started. I swear, I do care about the chance you gave me. Just… well, if this wasn’t stressing me out, it’d be because I already had a heart attack, like a nun walking into a strip club.”

Kaede ignored that last remark as she instead raised her eyebrows slightly and held up a finger. “Wait. So, you’re saying you say things like that… because you’re scared?”

Teruteru cringed, but nodded. “I wouldn’t wanna say scared, but… yeah. More or less.”

The once-Ultimate Pianist narrowed her eyes guiltily, rubbing her elbow for comfort. _ “So, when I yelled at him for those jokes earlier… oh, no. No wonder he ended up having a breakdown…” _ She remorsefully realized. The blonde took a moment to mull over the information. It certainly wasn’t the craziest idea she’d ever heard. Kaito trains, Kokichi lies, Kirumi takes on extra chores, she _ used _ to sit down and play piano for hours… everyone had their own way of dealing with stress. Cracking jokes, gross and unsettling as his were, was probably one of the more normal reactions all things considered. If the past several minutes were anything to go by, he _ definitely _ had some stress to cope with even before the murder. Of course, the problem was the stress he was giving everyone _ else _by doing that. Kaede considered her response for a short period before letting out a hum.

“Well… at least I can get your reasoning now. I’m sorry for losing it at you earlier,” She began, apologizing in earnest to him. Her look hardened slightly with determination. “But you promised you’d change, and I’m going to hold you to that. The good news is I’m willing to help. You said you start making these jokes when you’re feeling anxious, right? Then we already know where to start!”

Hanamura looked at her in puzzlement. “We do?”

Kaede nodded, a confident smile coming to her lips. “Yep! We can’t change what makes you anxious to begin with, but maybe we can figure out some other way for you to relieve stress!” The blonde cheerfully announced. The chef’s face took on a half-startled, half-intrigued expression, his eyes widening with a silent question. Akamatsu’s bright look fell to a glare for a few seconds, putting a scolding finger up. “It’s not _ that _ , so don’t even think about saying it,” She warned darkly. He smiled with a slight shrug, but nodded, prompting her to roll her eyes before continuing. “ _ Anyways _, as I was saying, the best way to get you to make those jokes less is to make you feel like you don’t need them as much. So… we just have to find something you can do instead!”

Teruteru blinked, rubbing his chin in thought. “Something else, eh? I’ll admit, you’ve got me curious, but that still might be a taller order than you think. What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, the gift shop probably has a stress ball or something for when you can’t just drop what you’re doing, but it’d be better to go with something that really calms you down. Like… a happy place, you know? Think of one of your happiest memories and tell me about it.”

He let out a small huff. “That’s pretty cliche, don’t you think? Someone with a sweet tooth isn’t going to change from chocolate bars to salads just because people say it’s better for them.”

Kaede frowned. “Just give it a shot, okay? Maybe you’ll surprise yourself.”

Despite all but rolling them at the suggestion, the chef finally closed his eyes, lips thinning in thought. “... Well… before I realized just how special my cooking was, I _ may _have worked in a quaint little diner for a few years. Small place, not up to the scale of big-city restaurants befitting of a cityslicker like me, but it was ho-... pretty nice, given all that,” He quickly corrected himself, almost wincing at his words. It didn’t take long for his lips to quirk upward in one of the most genuine smiles she’d ever seen on the boy. “Anyway, I was working as the head chef for this diner. One day, a big family came in for our lunch service. Five kids. Considering how nice the mom’s curves were, I can guess how they ended up with that many. Heh…”

“I _ really _hope this story isn’t going where I think it is…” Kaede lightly warned with a pout. Teruteru quickly shook his head.

“No no, not that sort of happy memory. Scout’s honor,” He reassured, holding up a hand. Kaede kept a suspicious gaze on him, but didn’t provide any further objections as he continued. “As you can imagine, big family like that, they didn’t have an easy time keeping track of everyone. Kids are kids, you know? Well, one of them got bored of waiting for their order and ended up wandering into the kitchen. Ma- er, my boss was trying to get him to leave, but the kid saw me and just lit up. Begged her to let him stay and watch. Little tyke was too cute to say no to, so I ended up showing him the ropes of it. The look in his eyes when he saw how all the ingredients came together to make the perfect dish and the proud smile she gave me… it felt warmer and sweeter than the finest flambéed crêpes in Paris.”

Akamatsu found his smile infectious as she gained one of her own. “That’s really sweet, actually. I wouldn’t have taken you for the type to enjoy teaching.”

A light chuckle escaped him. “Me either. I usually prefer keeping that sort of thing close to the vest. Food is like any other art performance; half the fun is trying to guess how they did it. Still, there’s something to be said for seeing it click with someone for the first time.”

The leader clasped her hands together with a bright grin as inspiration struck her. “Then that’s what we can do! Whenever you’re feeling worried, you can think back to those days, and use them for inspiration! Coming up with new recipes, trying out old ones… hey, maybe you could even teach me how to cook!” Kaede excitedly exclaimed. Teruteru’s eyes widened in what Kaede initially hoped was realization, but her brow furrowed as pained regret replaced his smile. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, his lip trembling without offering any words. When he finally did speak, his voice was pitifully small. “... I don’t know if that place is still waiting for me…”

Kaede stared at him, confusion and concern mixing inside her. “What do you mean?”

“Monokuma… he won’t tell me what happened to the place. To Mama… all he’ll say is something happened, and I wasn’t there to help them... d-damn him! Damn Nagito, too! I-I’d never have tried something like that if that bastard didn’t force me!” Teruteru cried out again, some of his earlier rage and desperation returning to him. Just as quickly as it arrived, it left him again, the country cook slumping like a limp doll. “N-now, I went and killed someone, an’ I don’t even know if I’ve got a home waitin’ for me even if I did get outta here…”

Kaede silently cursed herself for making yet another blunder with him. How could she have overlooked the fact that Monokuma would’ve used those kinds of memories against him? She once again put her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him as she spoke. “H-hey, don’t think like that. He’s just trying to get in your head. That’s what he wants. Monokuma wants us to feel despair, so don’t give it to him!” She urged, looking him in his sorrowful brown eyes. The stout cook furrowed his brow.

“B-but-”

The musician shook her head. “No buts. You have to believe there’s something left out there, _ and _ that we’ll get there without anyone else having to die! No matter what Monokuma says, we have to stay strong for everyone we care about on the outside… in fact, that makes those memories even more important,” Kaede boldly declared, her voice full of determination. He blinked at her, his chubby features creasing in uncertainty, prompting her to elaborate. “We… we both did something we can’t ever take back. All of us have. That’s why we have to keep those memories close; so we know why we have to get out of here **without** making those mistakes again. Those memories are a reason to keep going on. So… don’t let yourself get controlled by them, but don’t be afraid or ashamed of them, either!”

Teruteru looked lost in thought for a long time. As the seconds ticked by, the girl couldn't help but silently wonder if her speech was actually helping him at all or simply making things worse as her previous attempts had. “... Mama didn’t raise a fool. Not a total one, anyway…” He finally murmured, a quiet acceptance in his voice. “I know you’re right. Monokuma’s been playing with me like a kid rolling brussel sprouts around his plate. I’ve been letting him, because it’s easier than thinking that Mama’s… she’s…” He trailed off, Kaede gently gazing at him with the utmost sympathy. It was blindingly apparent who the mysterious mentor Teruteru had previously mentioned was, and given how he’d spoken of her then, it was just as obvious what he’d figured her fate to be by now. He sniffed, but managed to hold in the tears this time. “... I don’t wanna talk about this no more.”

Kaede nodded. “That’s fine. Just think about what I said, okay? And... I’m sorry for bringing that on. That was cruel of me…” She apologized, only to get a wave from Hanamura.

“Sometimes flames fly when you just want to put a twist on the flavor. That’s just as true in conversation as it is in cooking. Besides… much as I might have a taste for my jokes, you _ are _ trying to help me at heart, sweet thing that you are. I can take a little broiling for that,” Teruteru conceded, a touch of his usual confidence returning to him. He paused for a few moments before clicking his tongue with a sigh. "And… I _ did _ promise I'd try to keep a leash on my more… _ intimate _tastes. I suppose it's only fair of me to keep up my end. Again, I can't promise authentic fettuccine alfredo from store-bought macaroni, but I've made better from worse ingredients with enough time."

Kaede nodded in agreement. "Effort is what I'm looking for more than anything. As long as I can tell you're trying, we're good," She said with a small smile. It started to fade away as the blonde rubbed her head. "... Though we should probably cut this off here and get back to the group. I didn't mean for it to take this long, and it doesn't look like the thing we found came from here anyway."

Teruteru hummed. "I'm pretty sure they think you're beating me like an egg right about now, so at least you won't have to worry about any nasty rumors. Anyway, I'm ready to bid this cheesy little hole in the wall ad-!" The brown-haired boy suddenly stopped, his eyes going wide with a stunned gasp as he pointed at her. "Oh, sacre bleu! Your clothes!"

"H-huh? What-" Akamatsu looked down at her vest… only to grimace at the noticeable stain where Teruteru had been sobbing into it earlier. "Oh, no… _ ew _..." She whimpered, her cringe worsening the longer she looked at it.

"I’m sorry, Kaede! I splattered your clothes in the totally wrong way!” Teruteru exclaimed in dismay, before suddenly pausing and gaining a guilty cross between a wince and a smirk as he tried to stifle a chuckle. “Er, ignore that last part.”

The musician glowered at him for a moment before rolling her eyes in annoyance. “This time, I will...” She curtly said with a hint of warning, before sighing and shaking her head. “Gross as it is, it’s not the end of the world. I always carry a spare, so it’s easy enough to fix. Give me a second to go in the back and change and then we can move on, okay?” Akamatsu explained, the implied order not to follow her thankfully ringing loud and clear for the chef as he gave a nod with a slightly anxious chuckle.

"Of course. Seeing as how I blew my… er... I'll be out here."

Silently glad that he cut off whatever innuendo he was about to make, Kaede pulled on the straps of her backpack and stepped inside the small kitchen area of the cafe. It wasn’t very big, hardly a fraction of the massive kitchen on the first deck, but it was at least out of view of any potential peering eyes as Kaede took off the ruined vest and fetched the clean, almost scarily identical spare from her bag, trying to ignore the way her throat tightened and a cold chill nipped at her bones at the sickening sense of deja vu she felt doing so. Part of her expected to feel the heft of a shot put ball hidden within, the former pianist clenching her fists and taking a deliberate breath to banish the haunting thoughts before continuing. It didn’t take long before she finished, looking as if nothing had happened to begin with, and she only spared a few seconds to glance over the practically barren room for any hint of evidence before giving up when nothing remotely dangerous or suspicious presented itself. Teruteru rose from the seat he’d taken at one of the tables once she stepped out. “My, my! If I didn’t know any better, I’d never guess you had a stain. Maybe I should keep spares around, too…”

The blonde elected to not take the remark at anything beyond face value for her own benefit. “It can come in handy if you ever have to change on the fly. It’s good to be prepared wherever you are” She said diplomatically as they began walking back to the middle of the casino. _ “Or have to smuggle a murder weapon…” _ A grim voice bitterly whispered in her head. Kaede bit her lip to keep from showing any reaction. _ “N-no, don’t think like that right now. We have to focus. The killer might not have gotten the tablecloth from here, but there could still be other clues laying around! Besides, I still have to hear where everyone was last night…” _Akamatsu sternly reminded herself as she glanced at the portly cook falling into step just behind her. “... Hey, Teruteru? Speaking of wherever things are… could you tell me where you were last night?”

Hanamura turned to look at her, a brief gambit of surprise, indignation, and finally slightly bothered acceptance playing across his features as he took on a slight grimace. “Oh, right… I almost forgot about that,” He somewhat lamely admitted. “Let’s see… well, ‘Rumi and I were cooking and dishing out dinner for a good chunk of last night. Once that was done, we cleaned that kitchen until the floor sparkled like sugar in a sunset. Prolly… **from a little after eight to nine**, I’d say. I… wasn’t feeling that good, so I ended up going to sleep not long after.”

Kaede nodded along as she quietly compared it to Kirumi’s alibi. He didn’t seem quite as confident about the times, but the story still matched up with the one the maid gave. “I see… did you leave after that, or did you stay there the whole night?”

“Well… I was having a bit of a hard time sleeping, so I went to the kitchen and made a little midnight snack around… oh, maybe **one or so**?” He somewhat hesitantly admitted. Kaede tried to suppress a quirk of her eyebrow.

_ “Didn’t he say something like that when we found the tablecloth…?” _She recalled, picking up on his repeated use of the phrase. “One in the morning… hmm. Did you see anything strange while you were out?”

“Not really. No one else was out and about that late. Though, that reminds me,” He suddenly gained a somewhat amused, conspiratorial tone as he looked up at her. “Pardon the intrusion, but I have to know: when did you and Mondo become a pair?”

Kaede blinked at him uncomprehendingly. “... What are you talking about?”

Hanamura smirked with a little shake of his head. “Come now, you don’t have to pretend. I know what you two were up to last night.”

Kaede’s mouth went dry as her blood turned to ice. He… knew? But that… that meant he would’ve been the one to mess with the dumbbells, and _ that _meant…! She stared at him in pure dread and shock, praying she didn’t look as terrified as she felt. “Teruteru… I-I don’t know what you mean…” She denied as levelly as she could, even as she felt her fingers start to twitch nervously. The possible culprit let out a low chuckle.

“Really now?” He said teasingly, like a teenager enjoying some gossip rather than flaunting blackmail material like a new outfit. Kaede didn’t dare say a word, keeping as silent as the dead as she waited for him to play his hand. After a moment, Teruteru shrugged, that easy smile still pulling at his lips. The words that followed, however, were not a threat or coercion, yet were nearly as shocking as those. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think bad boys would be what gets your engine purring, but everyone’s got their type. C'est la vie, right? I’m just curious how you two went from screaming at each other in front of everyone to sharing a bed.”

In an instant, the frigid dread that gripped her body evaporated into complete confusion, and once the words fully processed, absolute mortification. “Sh-sharing a bed?! Wh- no! No! He’s not- we didn’t- nothing like that happened!” Kaede desperately refused a bit more loudly than she intended, feeling her face flush at the implication. Her flusterment only seemed to confirm Teruteru’s suspicions as he grinned knowingly at her, earning a glare very much undermined by the bright shade of red her cheeks had taken on. The blonde crossed her arms incredulously and dropped her voice to a hiss. “Wh-where would you even get that kind of idea?!”

“Hmm, where do I start? Him getting touchy whenever your name came up? The way he suddenly wanted to see you for a ‘talk’ even with everything going on? Or maybe the fact that he was in your room with you last night might be a clue,” He hummed out, much to Kaede’s confusion. “I happened to look at my map while I was in my lab. When I did, I saw the two of you right next to each other, getting cozy in the same cabin. I might have even felt a little jealous, though who of is up to you to decide.”

Akamatsu didn’t even care about the multiple innuendos he let slip. She was too focused on the big mistake she’d made without even knowing it as her earlier encounter with Monokuma practically slapped her in the face. _ “Of course, the monopads track _ ** _each other_ ** _ ! When I took Mondo’s pad last night, it must have looked like he was with me, and… _ ** _o-oh_ ** _ … wait, no, that’s not the important part right now! His pad’s _ ** _still in my room, isn’t it_ ** _ ?” _ Kaede realized, her eyes widening. That… could work very well for her if no one else noticed, or incredibly terribly if someone did. It would give both her and Mondo alibis, even if it came at the cost of her self-dignity, but only if no one noticed that Mondo still appeared to be in her room when he clearly wasn’t. If someone _ did _, then it would completely backfire and paint her and Mondo as incredibly suspicious… Kaede couldn’t hold back a grimace, glancing away from Teruteru. The chef, however, seemed to misunderstand the source of her discomfort.

“No need for a long face. I’m certainly not judging. What two people get up to in their own time is just that, even if I’m admittedly interested,” Teruteru offered in what seemed to be a genuine attempt to cheer her up. His smile was less teasing than it had been before, closer to the one he wore preparing a meal than when making his crude jokes, though a slight bit of mischief seemed to sneak in as he continued. “And… well, if you’ll let one more comment slide, you don’t have to worry about anyone else picking up on it. The dorms are soundproof for a reason, after all…”

Kaede pressed her lips into a thin line, ignoring the rising blush from that last remark in favor of deciding what to say. “I… I’d really, _ really _appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone else, Teruteru. Can you do that for me?” She requested, silently hating the fact that it served as a tacit confession of accusations she knew were false. The musician tried to take some solace in his quick agreement.

“Sure thing. Besides, I doubt anyone would believe little ol’ me on anything like that. Dirty minds get dirty looks, after all.”

The blonde didn’t bother to respond beyond a simple nod of her head. Well… that was humiliating. The good news is that Teruteru wasn’t trying to blackmail her over Mondo’s murder attempt. The bad news was now at least one person on the ship thought she was sleeping with the biker, which was just… ugh. That made four instances in as many days where someone aboard made assumptions about her lovelife, though for once it didn’t involve Mikan. She stifled a weary sigh. Still, at least she had a bit more information to work with now. Teruteru was in his lab at one in the morning and ‘saw’ her and Mondo, so that meant… a contradiction slammed into her like a bus, Kaede turning to face Hanamura with a burning question. “Wait a second. You said you checked your map last night and that’s how you knew… that. But… isn’t there something else that should have looked out of place?”

Teruteru raised an eyebrow at her. “Not really sure what you mean, chérie. Everyone else was in their own cabin.”

Kaede raised a finger. “Was _ everyone _, though?” She pressed. If her hunch was right, there should have been a notable exception to that claim. After a moment, Teruteru’s narrowed eyes rocketed open in realization.

“Actually… come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing Hifumi’s little icon. I didn’t really think about it last night, but… oh…” Hanamura all but whispered as he came to the same conclusion she did.

**Truth Bullet added: Teruteru’s Account**

Kaede closed her eyes in thought. “I think I understand now… thanks, Teruteru. You’ve been a big help, all… _ that _stuff aside.” She said gratefully as they arrived back at the exchange counter. Mondo, Leon and Kaito had apparently left it behind as she could see them checking out the opposite side of the room from where she and Teruteru had just been while Celeste and Tsumugi remained by the gaudily designed store. The gambler noticed their arrival first, casting a brief but withering glare at Teruteru before reverting to a somewhat amicable gaze for Akamatsu.

“Hello again, Kaede. I trust our pest problem has been resolved?” 

Kaede frowned at the snide remark, crossing her arms. “We talked things out, and agreed on a way to fix it going forward. Right, Teruteru?”

Hanamura tapped his fingers, clearly uncomfortable with Celeste’s elegant yet somewhat imposing posture as she seemed to slightly lean forward towards him. “Uh, yeah, that’s right. Have everything worked out.”

The slightest smirk came to Celeste. “Excellent. I’m quite pleased to hear that,” She announced, but behind that statement was a thin trace of malice that became more clear as she turned her head slightly and flicked aside a bit of hair. “But… to be perfectly honest, I do not feel like looking at you right now. Would you please join Kaito, Leon and Mondo?” 

Kaede’s eyes widened before narrowing disapprovingly. “What? No, that’s mean,” The ex-pianist argued. Celeste’s eyes darkened, giving a warning glare to both her and the chef. She had no intention of backing down. “I already said we got everything-” 

“Er… r-right! See you lovely ladies later!” He suddenly shouted, giving a shaky grin and a quick wave before none-to-subtly speed walking away from Ludenberg and her ominous stare. Kaede stood there with her mouth hanging open for a moment, slowly closing it as she realized he cut off her opportunity to stand up for him. She frowned at the goth.

“... That was really unnecessary, you know. You didn’t have to kick him while he’s down.”

“No, but he doesn’t have to be an annoyance and yet chooses to be just that. Such is the law of reciprocity,” Celeste countered without a hint of regret. She challengingly locked eyes with the blonde. “Before this continues, do you truly wish to waste time debating politeness, or do you wish to hear what we’ve discovered? Do keep in mind that we are working against the clock.”

Akamatsu pressed her lips into a slight pout, displeased with her attitude, but knowing she couldn’t argue against it. “... Fine. We can talk about this later. Did you guys find anything?”

Tsumugi held up a finger. “Technically, no. But, um, there was enough stuff missing from here that it plainly seemed suspicious. Monokuma won’t let us get close, but look...” The bluenette instructed, pointing towards the racks of various weapons and commodities alike. It wasn’t hard to see what she meant, as even at a glance, Kaede could tell a number of items were missing from the last time she’d examined the exchange. Most of it seemed to be fairly mundane stuff; a couple books, some trinkets, and one of the parasols that she’d seen Celeste with the other day were no longer up for display, leaving faint outlines where they’d once been kept with little other indication that they’d ever been there at all. What was more concerning, however, was the distinctive outline of something long and curved with a slightly thicker base. Kaede’s eyes widened as she recalled what had occupied that spot just a few days ago.

“Uh… am I misremembering, or did there used to be a sword there?”

“Indeed. I also remember a blade being there. Somewhat suspicious, is it not?” Celeste agreed, her tone much more certain than her words. “It would seem someone managed to acquire a weapon at some point. When, however, I’m afraid I do not know for certain. All I can say for certain is that I am certain it was still here **before I left the casino after our match yesterday**.”

Kaede looked at her curiously. “Huh? What makes you so sure?”

“I spent most of yesterday here after our poker match experimenting with the various machines Monokuma provided. Once my curiosity was satisfied, I came to the exchange and traded my tokens for one of the parasols,” She calmly explained, Kaede glancing to the spot in question. It took a few moments for the massive display to rotate into the right position, but once it did, Kaede noticed the cause for Celeste’s certainty. Despite the world of difference between the two items, the silhouettes were rather close together with the small umbrella being almost directly beneath the sword’s position. “I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. As you might imagine, a missing sword would have been rather concerning for me had it been gone by the time I made my purchase and left.”

**Truth Bullet added: Missing Exchange Items**

Tsumugi’s brow furrowed slightly as she nervously held up a finger. “Um… sorry, but couldn’t you have just bought it while you were here, used it on Hifumi, and then lied about it being there? We wouldn’t really be able to prove it either way…” The cosplayer pointed out. If Celeste was bothered by the accusation, she made no show of it, simply angling her head towards her with a blank expression.

“While that is possible, why, praytell, would I bother to point it out to you both and open myself up to the accusation? I fail to see how doing that would be remotely beneficial to myself were I the killer. Besides which, do you truly believe I’d be foolish enough to use a murder weapon that provably came from _ my _lab?” Ludenberg pointed out as if it was as obvious as Kaede’s hair color. In truth, she was inclined to agree. That would’ve been a pretty weird and needlessly complicated gambit with way too much risk even for someone whose talent revolved around luck.

Shirogane, however, wasn’t entirely deterred. “Well, I suppose that makes sense… oh, unless the killer got framed by someone else who knew they did it, and then the killer used that to make themself look innocent! A turnabout like that would be amazing!” She all but gushed, seemingly wrapped up in whatever storyline she was confusing for reality. Kaede rubbed her head.

“,,, I think you might’ve watched too much anime, Tsumugi… anyway, now’s not the time for that kind of thing. We can start giving theories and accusations once we get to the trial, but for now, we have to focus on working together!”

Tsumugi looked a touched embarrassed, weakly crossing her arms and looking away. “Erm… right. Sorry. I guess I got too wrapped up in your femme-fatale aura.”

If Kaede didn’t know any better, she could have sworn Celeste smirked a little at that. “There is nothing to be done except move on. Not that there is much else to discuss, unfortunately. Nothing else of note turned up from our efforts. If the culprit returned here after slaying Hifumi, they did an excellent job of hiding that fact.”

Akamatsu nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I didn’t find much in the cafe, either. If no one’s found anything else, I guess it’s time to move on. Before I do, though, can you guys tell me what you were doing last night?”

“Certainly. After leaving the dining hall around **eight-twenty ** or so, I decided to see if there was anything of worth in the cruise gift shop. When nothing caught my eye, I returned to the dining hall close to **nine-fifteen **and asked Kirumi for a slice of opéra gâteau. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any prepared, so I settled for pie instead. After that, I retired to my cabin for the rest of the night. Is that satisfactory?” Celeste replied without a hint of hesitation. After taking a moment to mentally compare it to what Kirumi told her, Kaede nodded once again.

“Yeah, thanks, Celeste. What about you, Tsumugi?”

The bespectacled girl cupped her elbow as she rested her head against the opposite hand. “This isn’t going to sound very good, but my alibi is a bit plain. I was pretty nervous about the motives, so as soon as I finished eating, I just went to my room and read manga until I fell asleep. I can’t remember what time exactly it was… um, but maybe someone else noticed?” Tsumugi offered without much confidence, forcing Kaede to hold back a frown. Now was _ really _not the time to be vague about important details. At the same time, however, nothing Shirogane said ran contrary to Tojo’s testimony. As much as she’d prefer solid times -and witnesses if possible- Kaede simply didn’t have anything to refuse Tsumugi’s rather thin defense. Of course, even if she wasn’t entirely sold on the girl’s alibi, there was no reason to make that obvious.

**Truth Bullet added: Celeste’s Account**

**Truth Bullet added: Tsumugi’s Account**

“Probably. Kirumi and Peko are pretty diligent about when people come or go,” Kaede reassured. If Tsumugi wasn’t the culprit, then the reassurance would help settle her nerves. If, god forbid, she actually _ did _do it, then hopefully saying that would make her think she wasn’t a suspect and possibly lower her guard a little. With a silent prayer for the former, Akamatsu gave one final nod to the pair. “Thanks for your help, you guys. Kaito and I have a couple more places to check out before time runs out, so I’ll see you there, okay?”

“Actually, Kaede, may I speak with you alone for a moment?” Celeste suddenly requested, her subtly intense gaze locked firmly on the ex-pianist. Kaede returned a curious look. The gambler gave no further indication of what was on her mind or why they had to be alone, but the unspoken insistence carried in her gaze was enough to peak the amateur investigator's interest.

"Oh… kay? Uh, Tsumugi, could you go let Kaito know we're heading out?"

The girl in question looked a little disappointed. “To be honest, I was kind of hoping you’d forget I was here. I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to see a secret protagonist/rival meeting in real life. So much for my wall-flower power…” Shirogane lamented with a small sigh before leaving to fetch the Luminary of the Stars. Kaede watched her go for a few moments before turning back to Celeste expectantly.

“... If I’m not mistaken, you shared a killing game with Tsumugi, correct?” Ludenberg began, still maintaining a perfectly neutral expression.

Kaede nodded. “Yeah. I… wasn’t around very long, but that’s where we first met. Why do you ask?”

“I would like your insight into her. While we’ve been investigating, Tsumugi’s behavior has struck me as… strange, to say the least. I’m sure you noticed how quick she was to accuse me the moment I testified about the sword, or that nonsense about framing myself as if this were some silly crime thriller and not a real murder. Does that seem normal for her given your time together?” The pseudo-European aristocrat asked, looking directly into Kaede’s eyes. The blonde’s lips tugged downward slightly.

“Well… more or less. She was always kind of off in her own world, even during the investigation. I don’t think she went more than a few minutes at a time without making some obscure reference or comparing life to a manga or something. She didn’t use to be quite so suspicious of people, but I also don’t know much of what happened after I… after my trial.” Kaede quietly finished, glancing off to the awkward if sweet Ultimate in the distance. How someone affable as Tsumugi managed to become a murderer was just another mystery to her, and one she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to.

Celeste seemed to consider that for a moment. “... I see. That does explain away some of her behavior, peculiar as it is. Then again, I suppose eccentricity is only natural for Ultimates. One does not become the master of a trade by being average, at least… but that is a different discussion. Besides, Tsumugi is not all I wished to discuss,” The gambler announced, narrowing her fierce red eyes and pinning Kaede in place. “I’m calling in my favor.”

Akamatsu stared at her in shock and slight apprehension. In truth, with everything that happened in the past few days, she’d nearly forgotten about her deal with Celeste. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Celeste was far and away the biggest threat to her attempts to unify the group aside from Monokuma himself, and without anything else of value, a favor seemed like a reasonable enough offering. Now, however, the words sent a shiver down Kaede’s spine. Owing a debt to the Ultimate Gambler was a foolish decision, and one she already worried she’d come to regret. “... Does it have to be right now? Hifumi is _ dead _. We don’t have much time before the trial-”

“That is precisely why I am asking now,” Celeste interrupted with just the slightest raise of her voice. If her words weren’t enough to make the blonde silent, the almost hypnotic intensity of her stare was. Once she was sure the ex-pianist wouldn’t counter her, she continued. “This is admittedly little more than a hunch, but Hifumi was not precisely the most trusting person long before we ever ended up on this ship. To be frank, it would not surprise me if he put more stock into the words of a fictional character than he did any living person. Given that, it would not have been easy to convince him to go somewhere alone unless he trusted the culprit a great deal… or they had something he wanted.”

“What could anyone have that would be important enough to kill him over?” Akamatsu questioned.

Celeste was unphased. “I’m not certain, but the possibility can’t be ruled out. Whatever his reason for being out at night time, it died with Hifumi. However… it is possible he left some sort of clue behind. That is why I would like you to search Hifumi’s room.”

Kaede stared at her for a long moment, scrutinizing every aspect of the gambler. It made sense, in truth. Hifumi was a bit weird and detached, but he didn’t strike her as an idiot. He probably would have left some sort of evidence behind if something was going on. On the other hand… “Okay… but why do you want me to do it? Don’t take this the wrong way, Celeste, but you’re not exactly the most trusting person either. Why leave something like this up to someone else?”

To her surprise, Ludenberg gained a small smile at that. “My, what an apt question for someone as trusting as you. You’re learning,” The goth praised, folding her hands. Kaede tried to ignore the veiled insult. “The answer is rather simple: people trust you. Were I to make a discovery like that, I would be met with suspicion at best and scorn at worst. You, on the other hand, are generally liked amongst everyone. People would be willing to listen to your word over mine.”

That… also made a lot of sense. Kaede didn’t like to consider herself above anyone else, but it was undeniable that she’d done a better job of establishing trust with everyone than her darkly-dressed counterpart had. And, as guilty as part of her felt about it, she’d be lying if she said she particularly trusted Celeste herself. _ “Would I believe her if she suddenly had some evidence that changed everything…? Or… would I just assume she was lying?” _The blonde pondered for a moment. Given everything she knew about Celeste and her personality, she couldn’t deny that it would definitely seem a little odd if something like that happened. An odd feeling started to simmer within her, but Kaede slowly nodded despite it. “... Alright. I’ll check it out for you.”

Ludenberg allowed only a hint of satisfaction into her mask. “Thank you, Kaede. For the sake of all our lives, let us hope something turns up. Oh, and of course, _ should _ you discover anything, I expect to hear about it. Are we in agreement?”

Kaede thinned her lips, but nodded again. “Yeah. We are.”

“Excellent. Now then, Kaito and Mondo are approaching, so it seems this is where we part ways. Good luck, Kaede.” Celeste bid farewell, giving a small curtsy before walking away from the exchange counter and towards where Tsumugi and Teruteru were now awkwardly hovering around in the back corner with a still-distancing Leon. She passed by the pair of gruffer Ultimates without a word, earning an odd look from Kaito and a momentary glare from the biker as they joined Kaede.

“What was that about?” Momota wondered aloud, still looking at the fleeing goth in mild confusion. Owada scoffed.

“Don’t worry about it. It’d be weirder if she wasn’t being a bitch…” Mondo dismissed with a sneer. 

Kaito shook his head. “Nah, I’m used to her ignoring me. I mean what did she want from you, Kaede?” He questioned, turning his curious gaze to the girl in question. She gave a light shrug.

“She asked me to take a look around Hifumi’s room in case he left any clues behind, so I guess that’s where we’re going next,” The blonde explained to Kaito, before her eyes drifted to his darkly dressed companion and the familiar sense of guilt and anxiety-born awkwardness started looming over her. “... Are you coming along too?”

Mondo glanced away. “If that’s a problem-”

“No no no, nothing like that!” Kaede frantically clarified, raising her hands in a show of good faith. She had no intention of getting out of her promise, no matter how many opportunities Owada presented her with. Once she realized how desperate her sudden refusal sounded, though, she put her arms back down, feeling a touch embarrassed. “I was just curious. I’m fine with you joining. The more the merrier, right?” She said with a small smile. Mondo met her gaze and held it for a moment before giving a small nod and crossing his arms.

“... Right...” He finally agreed. Kaito grinned, slapping both their backs to the pair’s mild surprise and dismay.

“Of course! You’re both my sidekicks, so that means both of you are helping me figure this thing out! It’s just a matter of time before we blow everyone away with the truth!” Momota bragged, a mix between confidence, determination, and a trace of outrage painting his declaration. Kaede couldn’t help but smile at Kaito’s seemingly superhuman passion. Mondo curled his lip for a moment, but let it fade with a small grunt and roll of his eyes.

A moment passed without anyone moving, prompting Owada to ask a blunt if apt question.. “Well, are we goin’ to that asshole’s room or not?”

“O-oh! Yeah, let’s get a move on!” Akamatsu declared, and with that, the unlikely trio left the casino for what could very well be the last time in their lives.

***

The trek back to the dorms took a little longer than Kaede would have liked even with the rather fast pace the party maintained. She couldn’t decide whether it was more or less stressful not knowing exactly how much time they left, but the race against the clock was still in full swing either way. The long cavern of a hallway that made up the dormroom corridor softly echoed with their rapid footfalls as they finally reached the halfway point to the dining hall, Hifumi’s room only a short distance ahead. Before they went there, though, Kaede made sure to make a quick stop in her own dorm to retrieve Mondo’s monopad from her nightstand. Despite initially refusing to accept it, a quick explanation of how the tracking worked was enough to make him begrudgingly take the device back at least for the moment. 

With that, it wasn’t long before the three stood in front of the Ultimate Fanfic Creator’s door. Kaede looked at the portrait of Hifumi with a heavy heart. His death still hadn’t entirely processed in her mind. Sure, she knew he was dead, but the fact that he was dead and _ gone _ was something that she couldn’t wrap her head around. Now, though, as Yamada’s forever frozen face stared unseeingly back into her eyes, the reality of it started to sink in. She promised there would never be a murder, and yet... Kaede sucked in a quiet breath, closing her eyes and tensing her fists. _ “Deal with that later. You have to focus right now…” _She reprimanded herself before taking a step forward and turning her head to look at her companions. “Okay, guys. I don’t really know what we’re looking for, but if there’s anything that looks strange, point it out. It could be important.”

Kaito nodded, his expression taking on a look of fierce resolve. “Right. I might not have been there for him when I should’ve, but I’ll be damned if I don’t find something to avenge my sidekick! C’mon! Let’s get in there already!”

Mondo didn’t give any sort of response, the biker looking past her at the picture of Yamada with an unreadable expression. She hesitated for a moment in case Mondo said anything, but when it was clear whatever he had on his mind was staying there, she shook her head and turned the doorknob. In many ways, Hifumi’s room was identical to how she’d last seen it just two days ago, and yet felt completely different at the same time. The room had once seemed rather inviting, but without Gundham and Kaito’s bickering, Hifumi and Tsumugi’s random bits of trivia, and the din of the TV, the dead silence of the room was positively deafening. She looked around the room with an increasingly unshakable feeling of intruding somewhere she shouldn’t as she gazed at the countless books and trinkets resting on shelves awaiting an owner that would never return, damned to collect dust for the rest of their existence. It was almost like a sense of deja vu settled over her; simultaneously familiar and yet uncomfortable with the place she found herself in. Biting her lip in an attempt to banish the thoughts, she glanced back to her companions. “... I’ll check out the living room area. You guys let me know if you find anything.”

Without further ado, the blonde walked towards the couch and wall of bookcases. It made up a decent chunk of the room, but most of that was on account of the spacious couch and coffee table, so it was thankfully a little less arduous than one might assume. Her first stop was the coffee table itself on the off chance that he’d left it in plain sight. While none of the figurines noticeably out of place or disturbed and the particular DVDs laid out for viewing were slightly different, both of those were trivial compared to the new addition to the display. Right in the middle of the coffee table was a katana with a blue and white handle put on display like a museum item, the spotless silver blade glimmering dangerously in the light. Kaede stared at it in surprise, drawing closer for a better look. _ “Is it… yeah, this is the sword from the casino!” _She recognized. Without a doubt, this was the same blade she’d seen just a few days prior, the weapon’s shape lining up exceedingly well with the outline she remembered from the exchange. Akamatsu put a hand to her chin with a hum. “But… why would Hifumi have it?” She pondered aloud.

“Huh? You find something?” Mondo’s voice unexpectedly rumbled from behind, slightly startling Kaede. The gangster was partially hunched over a rather large desk littered with pens, paper, and various art tools as his thin yellow eyes focused on her. Kaede nodded, stepping aside so that he could see.

“Yeah. Apparently Hifumi bought a sword at some point.”

Mondo’s eyes widened as he noticed the weapon. “The fucker_ bought a sword _? Seriously?” Owada cursed out in disbelief, before his eyes darkened a little. “... What was he plannin’ on doin’ with that thing?”

Kaede thinned her lips. “I… don’t really know. I’d like to think he had a reason for buying it that wasn’t anything bad, but… well… why else would someone buy a weapon in a place like this?” She lamentfully noted, frowning down at the sword. She crossed her arms with a sigh and a shake of her head. “There’s something that doesn’t make sense, though. If he had this, then if he _ was _doing something shady last night, then why didn’t he have it with him when he died? Wouldn’t he have wanted something to defend himself with? I kinda doubt he knew how to use a sword, but- huh?” She cut herself off as she hesitantly reached down to feel the weight of the sword, only to be taken aback by its complete lack of heft when she effortlessly raised it. Despite its large and ominous appearance, the thing was as light as a feather even to the relatively weak musician. Kaede lifted it up to her face in pure dumbfoundedness. "What in the world…? How is this thing so light?"

"Damn… you're stronger than you look." Owada said, slightly impressed if mostly surprised. The once-Ultimate Pianist shook her head.

"I'm really not. This thing is just super light for some reason, but I have no idea how. It almost feels like a prop I had in a school play years ago… actually… wait a second," She murmured to herself as a lightbulb went off in her head. Still casually holding the sword's grip in one hand, she cautiously brought her other hand to the dull sides of the blade and, with a brief moment of hesitation, squeezed against it. The distinctive soft _ crinkle _ of foil cried out in response. "H-huh? No way… are you telling me this thing is…" With only a touch of reluctance, she put her fingers against the supposedly sharp edge of the blade and gently pressed down… and stared in amazement as it crumpled beneath her grip. "... It's a fake. This thing's paper mache!"

**Truth Bullet added: Fake Sword**

Kaede lightly swung the thing a few times, even going so far as to tap it against her arm with a decent bit of force to see if it could hurt at all. Beyond a _ very _ light and momentary sting, there was no evidence she'd ever been struck at all. Her brow furrowed in thought. "Do you think he bought it for a weapon and then found out it was fake, or just thought it looked cool?"

Mondo scowled a little. "Hell if I know. His talent was basically being the Ultimate fuckin' Nerd. He coulda got it for both without botherin' to think if he could actually swing the thing if it was real. Wouldn't be the first idiot I knew to do that..." Owada gruffed out to Kaede's mild curiosity.

"I'm surprised you know anyone like that. I mean, how many people use swords these days besides guys like Peko?"

The career criminal thinned his lips. "I knew a guy from another gang, once. Dumbass kept a huge ass sword on his back even though he couldn't swing it for the life of 'em. Made him look 'stylish' or somethin' like that… tch. Yeah. He looked real _ stylish _ when he ended up guttin' himself on the thing after he crashed."

Kaede cringed as she tried very hard _ not _to picture that. "O-oh… uh… wow…" Was all she could bring herself to say, feeling her stomach twist in her gut a bit. Mondo nodded grimly.

"Yeah. Daiya made it a rule that day that no one carries anything bigger than three feet on open road. Seein' as how the leader of the Cryin' Devils got himself killed doin' just that, even the bigger chucklefucks in the gang didn't have to get told twice."

Kaede thinned her slightly curled lips. "Uh… yay for road safety, I guess?" She said uncertainly, drawing a husky chuckle from the biker.

"Yeah, let's go with that… anyway, he's got a lotta shit here, so I'll yell if I find something..." And with that, he returned to poring over the cluttered desk.

_"Hopefully he doesn't mean that too literally… oh well._ _Now, if I were Hifumi, where would I hide a clue...?" _Akamatsu thought to herself as she resumed her own search. Nothing else of note was on the coffee table, and a quick check between the couch cushions also failed to produce anything beyond a couple monocoins, so her attention turned to the vast array of books Hifumi had out on display. The colorfully decorated spines of countless manga collections proudly showed off the names of unfamiliar books interspersed with the occasional franchise she’d heard of at least in passing, the rows and rows of comics seemingly arranged in alphabetical lane name order. Upon noticing this, inspiration struck Kaede, the pianist quickly scanning through the names in search of one particular author. _“With all these books here, if he did hide a note in one of them, he probably would have put it somewhere he could find easily without anyone guessing which one at random. Who better to start with than one Hifumi did himself?” _She reckoned, a touch proud of her deduction.

It didn’t take long to finally stumble across books touting the name of H. Yamada. She grinned triumphantly at the sight, picking one of the volumes up at random. The cover was a little strange, featuring the weird angel thing that decorated a good portion of the room in a maid costume as well as a ridiculously buff shirtless man with a sword in his teeth. Kaede quirked an eyebrow. _ "'Princess Piggles and the Pirate King's Wrath'? That's… weird. Then again, he was an Ultimate for a reason, so maybe it's actually good? Maybe Kirumi would like this if I could convince her to take a break sometime…” _ She mused, quickly thumbing through the book to see if any loose papers were hidden within. About halfway through, she thought she felt a page slide, so she quickly stopped and flipped back a few pages. Once she examined the page in question, however, she immediately wished she didn't. Her lavender eyes became the size of pinpricks as her face flushed in sickened horror. “Wh- oh my god!” Kaede shouted out in disgusted shock, the ex-pianist slamming the manga shut and tossing it haphazardly on the shelf. Kaede buried her bright red face in her hands, flustered. _ “W-was that Cupid-looking thing using a sword to- nope! Not gonna think about that! Or remember it!” _

“Kaede? Everything okay?” Kaito called out, the mortified leader turning to see him and Mondo looking at her in clear concern from each of their stations. That only seemed to make her sheepishness worse as she grabbed her elbow like a security blanket.

“Y-yeah. Well, no, but… be careful about browsing through any of Hifumi’s books, or you might see something really, _ really _ wrong,” Akamatsu cautioned. Kaito quirked an eyebrow, but she quickly shook her head. “Don’t ask. _ Please _ . The sooner I can forget about it, the better...” Kaede pleaded, already mourning the time when she didn’t know what kind of ‘art’ Hifumi did. _ “Not that I think I can ever scrub that out of my brain… seriously, what would push him to draw something like _ ** _that_ ** _ ?! Who wants to see someone having sex with-no! Forget! FORGET!” _

Mondo scowled slightly, a glint of understanding in his eyes as he muttered something about 'sick bullshit' under his breath while Kaito stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging and going back to his own search. Slightly traumatized, Kaede somewhat reluctantly returned her gaze to the wall of manga. After a few much more weary glances through Hifumi’s novels, the ex-pianist concluded that her hunch was wrong, having only the horrifying fantasies of the late Yamada to show for her efforts. Disappointed and more than a little grossed out, she gave the area one final lookover for anything of interest before sighing and turning to join Kaito. The Ultimate Astronaut had made an absolute mess of Hifumi’s previously decently-made bed with the pillows, plushies, sheets, and the comforter thrown off haphazardly around the floor. At the moment, he was searching through the drawers on the nightstand, the man looking more like a giant blob of purple from behind. 

“Hey, Kaito. Anything turned up yet?”

He straightened up with a shake of his head as he turned to face her, rubbing the back of his spiky hair with a small frown. “Nah. I’ve been looking over every inch of this place, but there’s nothing here. Actually… it’s kind of weird, now that I think about it.”

Kaede tilted her head. “How so? I haven’t found a lot here, either.”

“That’s what I mean. In my nightstand, there’s a bunch of space encyclopedias and training manuals and stuff. Hifumi’s is totally empty, though. Look!” Momota elaborated as he pointed towards the drawers. True to his word, they were completely barren, lacking even a hint of what might have been stored there. “That probably means someone else took whatever was in here, right?” He declared confidently. The blonde furrowed her brow as she raised a finger.

“I mean… I guess it’s a little strange, but I’m not sure it proves anything. There was nothing in my nightstand either when I checked it. We can’t really take anything from this.” Kaede countered. 

Kaito looked a touch disappointed. “Really…? Ah. My bad. Guess I jumped the gun a bit… still. We didn’t have to ask Monokuma to open the door or something when we got here. If it was unlocked, then couldn’t the killer have** come here last night**?”

Kaede paused as she realized he was at least partly correct. Monokuma already showed he was willing to leave doors locked or unlocked for whatever mysterious reasons he saw fit. If they didn’t have any trouble opening the door, then that must have meant it was unlocked at some point or another. “Huh… that makes sense. We’d have to figure out when exactly it was unlocked, though…” She mused aloud. Talking about time reminded her of a key detail she’d yet to figure out. “Oh! That reminds me. Kaito, do you remember what time it was when you found Mondo and I last night?”

Momota pulled on his goatee in thought. “Let’s see… I was waiting for you to drop by for training until **a** **quarter after eleven**. I stopped by your room and knocked for a little while, but then I figured you weren’t coming out and went upstairs. It probably took **five or ten minutes **to get upstairs, and I was going through the routine for a little bit before I heard you guys arguing and started walking towards the noise. When you screamed, though, I took off running, and you know the rest. All in all, probably... **eleven-thirtyish**?” Kaito stated decently confidently. 

** _Truth Bullet added: Kaito’s Account_ **

Kaede crossed her arms, closing her eyes as she mulled over the information. _ “So, then, if the killer _ ** _did _ ** _ know about what happened with Mondo, then they would’ve had to have been around by half-past eleven at the latest. Nighttime starts at ten, and Kiyo said the blood in Sakura’s lab was a few hours old… but did Hifumi die _ ** _before _ ** _ Kaito met up with us, or _ ** _after_ ** _ ?” _ Akamatsu began piecing together in her mind. The two possible situations provided different suspect lists. If he was already dead, that ruled out herself, Mondo, and Kaito for certain. If he died _ after _ , though, that unfortunately nullifies Kaito’s alibi… Kaede tried to stifle a wince at the thought. Kaito was arguably her best friend at the moment despite the limited time they’d known each other. There was no way she could ever picture him killing someone, let alone as gruesomely as Hifumi had been… but there was also no way she could prove that if the evidence said the victim died after they parted ways. _ ”With any luck, it won’t come to that…” _

On the outside, Kaede gave a nod. “I see. Thanks for clearing that up. Anyways, nothing important turned up over here?” She asked. Kaito bristled slightly.

“Nadda. I looked over every inch of the bed and his stuff here, but there’s no hints about what he was doing last night. I even checked inside the pillows!” He added with a pumped fist. What pray tell he could have possibly found inside a pillow was beyond her, but the leader of the blackened didn’t bother commenting on that.

“So there was nothing under the bed either?”

Kaito blinked at her in bland surprise. “... Under the bed?”

“Well, yeah. You did check there, didn’t you?” She questioned again, only for him to keep the same dumbfounded expression. Her lips thinned. “... You didn’t, did you.”

“I didn’t think about it!” He defensively shot back.

Kaede crossed her arms. “Seriously? Didn’t you ever hide comic books under your bed or something like that?” She demanded in light exasperation. 

“No, I always kept that stuff in my pillows!”

“Why?”

“Because almost everyone thinks of checking under the bed first! Who’d go looking through a guy’s pillows? It was the perfect hiding spot! There’s no way anyone actually does that cliched crap!”

_ “... There is _ ** _so _ ** _ much wrong with that. I don’t even know where to start…” _ Kaede dryly noted in her mind. In lieu of continuing the bizarre argument, she simply rolled her eyes and knelt down to the floor to check for evidence. As she probably should’ve expected, it was almost pitch black under the mattress, forcing her to pull out her monopad and use it as an impromptu flashlight. The space was admittedly a lot smaller than she’d thought, barely big enough to hold her pad out without her thumbs bumping the ceiling, but it was just enough to smuggle the small box pressed up against the wall, cleverly hidden from sight by the darkness and top left foot of the bed. “Aha! I knew it! Told you there’d be something here!” She triumphantly called out as she grabbed the box and slid it out, offering a smile that _ may _have been a touch more smug than she’d actually earned.

Momota rolled his eyes with a hilariously grumpy look. “Getting sassed by my own sidekick… tch! Whatever. I’ll give you that one, Kaede, but don’t think I’m giving up just yet! Now, let’s open this thing up!” The astronaut roared determinedly. Kaede picked up the box and set it on the bed before pulling up on the lid… and blinking in confusion when it refused to budge with a gentle rattle.

“Huh? Why won’t it-... oh…” Kaede trailed off disheartenedly as she noticed the large lock on the other side of the box keeping the top firmly in place. It wasn’t especially thick or bulky, but to her dismay, the keyhole staring soullessly back at her shot down any ideas of her managing to guess the combination with her hearing.

Kaito’s passionate expression fell to bewilderment and quickly into a mix of annoyance and confidence. “A lock? Like something like that could ever stop Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! He’s gotta have a key around here somewhere! We just have to find it!”

The blonde frowned a little as she cast an uneasy glance at the clock. "Where would we start, though? This room's pretty big, and he probably wouldn't keep the key anywhere- wait, Mondo? What are you-"

"Give me a second," Owada curtly cut her off, the bulky man apparently having wandered from the desk at some point. He pushed past her and grabbed the box, setting it down on the floor directly against the wall. Before Akamatsu could ask what exactly his plan was, Mondo reared his foot back and slammed it against the case with all his might. “UURGH!” He roared out as a screeching ** _CLINK! _ **echoed throughout the room, his kick sending the small bits of metal that used to be the lock soaring through the air in splinters and shards while the box itself bounced up a few inches before crashing back down to the ground, a clear dent marking where his foot connected with the weak tin. With a small grunt, he knelt down and picked the box up before presenting it to the pair with a smirk. “There. Found the key.”

Kaede’s startled, “G-geez, Mondo! Are you okay?” rang out at the same time as Kaito’s proud declaration of, “Good goin’, Mondo!”, spurring her to glare at Momota with a pout. He shrugged uncertainly at her.

“What? He got the thing open, didn’t he?”

The ex-pianist’s pout deepened. “Yeah, but he could’ve really hurt his foot!” She shot back, turning her half-concerned, half-disapproving gaze to the man in question. “Are you alright?”

Mondo scoffed, rolling his serpentine eyes. “I’m the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. Didn’t get that title by bein’ a pussy that breaks his foot tryin’ to kick shit. Don’t worry about it.”

Pushing down the urge to argue against that, Kaede bit her lip. “... Alright. Thank you, Mondo,” She conceded somewhat reluctantly as Owada set the box down on the bed and flipped the lid open, accidentally tossing the crumpled remnants of the lock in a lame half-arc before it landed on the bare mattress, instantly forgotten in favor of the secretive contents it protected. Inside awaited what admittedly seemed like a bunch of random junk to Kaede. There was what looked like a kid’s toy camera emblazoned with the same character that dominated so many of Hifumi’s possessions, an action figure of a blue robot person with a large mallet, and other random trinkets that she couldn’t understand keeping in a locked container. What did stand out to her, though, was a notebook partially buried underneath the clutter, its slightly faded blue cover plastered with various designs and drawings surrounding the large print in the center that read **PROPERTY OF HIFUMI YAMADA**. Kaede gently took a hold of it and held it in front of her, a tension prickling at her shoulders as she gazed upon what could possibly be the decisive clue of the case. "This is probably his journal if he went through all the effort of keeping it locked up, right? If anything happened before he died, it'll be in here…"

Kaito slammed his fists together with a fierce expression on his face. "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's find out who did this already!" He boomed. Kaede complied, opening the book and quickly thumbing through to find the latest entry. It seemed to be a mix of a sketchbook and a journal, as entries were often intermixed with drawings, some being incredibly detailed designs complete with diagrams highlighting specific parts while others were far simpler and occasionally just cartoonist sketches. There seemed to be little rhyme, reason, or continuity behind the designs beyond whatever he had been thinking of at the time, until it eventually seemed to shift from general anime-ish designs to exaggerated caricatures of people. Some were familiar, like a rather regally portrayed Celeste and Mondo in an almost comically oversized version of his coat posed dramatically alongside a boy with spiky black hair and striking red eyes that complimented his pristine white outfit. Others were less familiar, such as a blue-haired girl that bore a strange resemblance to Tsumugi in a dazzling pink outfit and somewhat plain guy with an ahoge somewhat similar to her own. Strangely, it seemed some pages had been rather roughly torn out, leaving strands of paper poking out from the spine as it suddenly leapt from the collection of strangers to more familiar faces like Kaito, Peko, and even herself. After a few last pages, she finally turned to a blank one, a quick turn backwards revealing the last things Hifumi Yamada ever wrote. "Stop! This is it!" Kaito declared, shoving a finger where the prior entry ended and the final one began.

Kaede nodded confirmingly. "Yeah, it looks like it. Time to see what it says…" She agreed, and with that, began reading the entry aloud.

** _“I can’t believe it. It’s… it’s got to be impossible, and yet… no, it’s not impossible. I know all too well that it’s not. How many times have I tried to open up to people just to get mocked and ridiculed by stupid medicore humans or tricked by liars again and again? All those times, and yet I let it happen AGAIN._ **

** _She’s been lying to everyone here. She's been lying to ME from the second we met. I can’t believe how foolish I’ve been. I let myself fall for her ridiculous front even when I already KNEW the kinds of horrible things people here are willing to do, including her. Everyone in this place is a killer, yet I was dumb enough to let my walls down? Foolish boy! How could I do the same stupid mistakes countless protags have done and paid the price for? The way she pretends to help people, even when she’s scheming behind their backs… it’s diabolical! She tricked me into thinking she was my friend, but that was just another deceit of a cruel, twisted mastermind!_ **

** _She’s the closest thing to a true villain that exists IRL. Beneath those smiles is just pure evil putting on an innocent face… I can’t trust her. I can’t do ANYTHING with her around. I’m not safe unless everyone else knows. But what can I do? If I just tried to tell everyone, they’d take her side, even if I showed them proof! I have this tape, but what's it matter when no one would believe a chubby, fragile-hearted boy over someone like her anyway?! But if I don’t do anything, then it’s only a matter of time before she hurts someone else, and no one would even know!_ **

** _I… I have to do something! There’s no way I could let her run amok again! If no one else believes me, then… then I can just stop her now and force her to reveal her true self! When that happens, everyone can be safe, she’ll be stopped… and maybe some people will even ACTUALLY like me for it! I know what I have to do now. For the few genuine friends I have. For my dignity. For Princess Piggles!”_ **

For a long moment, no one said a word, Yamada's last words hanging oppressively in the air. Kaede swallowed thickly, a sudden nervousness making it feel like she was being boiled and frozen alive at the same time. On the one hand, it was excellent news. The journal narrowed the suspect list by over half, leaving only a handful of likely culprits. Yet, despite that, she couldn't bring herself to feel pleased. Narrowing it down made what was to follow so much more _ real _ . It was no longer an abstract of _ someone _killing Hifumi and either getting executed or killing them all. Now, the names and faces of her friends were attached to that anonymous, shadowy figure she pictured in her head. 

Someone she cared about was going to die.

**Truth Bullet added: Hifumi’s Journal**

Before she could descend down that rabbit hole any further, Kaito spoke up, his voice grimly serious. "Alright… so whoever killed Hifumi is a girl, and she did it after he confronted her about whatever was on his tape. Sound about right?" He summarized, drawing a somewhat dismayed noise from Mondo.

"You're sayin' a chick did this? Didn't his head get bashed open?" The biker questioned. Kaito scowled.

"Bastard stabbed him, too. Whoever did this is a damn animal…" Momota growled. Kaede offered him a sympathetic look but couldn't manage a proper response, the girl still half-lost in thought. 

"Jesus… whatever was on that tape must've been pretty serious shit to lay into 'em like that. What kinda _ secret _…" He started before suddenly trailing off, snapping his mouth shut with a grimace. Akamatsu furrowed her brow in concern.

"Mondo? Are you-"

"We found what we were lookin' for, right? Then let's hurry up and get the fuck outta here." Mondo tersely ordered as he turned away from the pair. Kaito tensed his jaw.

“Hey, she was just asking! Don’t get snappish!”

“I’m not! Just sayin’ that we shouldn’t waste time in that asshole’s room if we already found the shit!” He shot back, turning just enough to give the astronaut a heated glare. Kaede could see the biker become more rigid, his hands tensing into fists by his side. A familiar sense of dread shot up her spine that made her unwillingly curl into herself, her foot automatically taking a step back only to bump into the bedframe. Mondo’s warning gaze briefly settled over the slightly cowering musician before lightening up, guilt and frustration flashing across his features. “Goddamn it, I didn’t- urgh…! Just… what the fuck ever! I’m fine, alright? Just sick of looking at useless bullshit...”

Kaede frowned, concerned and uncertain of what caused Mondo’s sudden and severe shift in attitude. _ “I really wish I knew more about him. What could have set him off like this? He seemed fine until he said something about _ ** _secrets_ ** _ … unless… was that why he-” _

** _Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bing Bong Bing Bong!_ **

A harsh crackle of static drew the attention of the three Ultimates to the TV screen behind them, lines of crackling grey giving way to reveal Monokuma’s devilish grin. The bear was once again sporting his ridiculous captain’s hat and stirring around a martini in one paw, leaning back in his chair contentedly. “_ They always say parting is such sweet sorrow. I know I certainly agree with that saying. It’s been a blast watching you guys flail around teary-eyed over your buddy’s death! Alas, it’s time for some sorrow of my own, as it’s with a heavy heart that I announce that the investigation is over… and with absolute joy that I announce that the heart-pumping, mind-racing, super exhilarating class trial is about to begin! I know you guys are just _ ** _dying _ ** _ for another go in the courtroom, so your gracious captain is happy to deliver! Please make your way to the boiler room on the second deck and await further instructions! See you soon~! _” The loathsome beast giddily declared in a singsong voice before the screen flashed and changed to display a map with a childishly drawn arrow marking where to go.

“Guess we wouldn’t have gotten to look around anyway…” Kaede surmised almost lamentfully as she stared at the screen. Her body felt as rigid as a stone, the tension in her shoulders causing a dull ache that was almost a welcomed distraction from the horror about to come. Another class trial. Only the second of her life, yet just the words were enough to send a shiver down her spine. It almost didn’t feel real, like a nightmare with an exit that was just out of reach, but the fear trickling through her veins made it clear that wasn’t the case. Someone among them was a liar and a killer once again. Her vision slowly drifted back down to the book in her hands, the evidence that could have been a smoking gun if Hifumi had only written down a name. The evidence that could _ still _be just what they needed… if she embraced the same lies of omission that dragged her down by the neck at her trial. Her lips tugged downwards in preemptive shame. Worse than those, in fact. “... Well, we know what to do now, but… I need to ask you two a favor.”

Kaito quirked an eyebrow, his deep purple eyes meeting her own questioningly. “Sure thing. What’s on your mind?”

Mondo didn’t say anything, but his expectant gaze compelled her to force out the first step of her gambit. “I need you guys to not say anything about this until I’m ready.”

That did manage to get a response from Mondo, the biker widening his eyes before narrowing them suspiciously. “Hold on. You said we all had to work together, but now we’re hiding evidence? The fuck is the point of that?”

Even Momota seemed a bit conflicted, his gaze considerably less weary yet still uncertain. “... I mean… I’m sure you’ve got your reasons, but I gotta be honest, that’s a little weird, Kaede. Why aren’t we letting everyone know about this?”

Akamatsu tried not to flinch at their pointed, if entirely accurate remarks. “I-it’s not like that! I promise! It’s just…” She sighed, unable to meet their eyes as she debated how exactly to word it so they’d understand without giving away how little she actually trusted most of the people she called friends. “Even with all our investigating, we don’t have anything that really tells us who did it. This is the closest thing we have to that, but it won’t work if the killer knows about it. If we tell everyone about it now, they can start planning around it or come up with ways for it to not be as important as it is. If we keep it a secret, just for a little while, we can spring it on them when there’s more we know for sure about the case. I… I won’t sugarcoat it. I’m asking you to lie for me, but I swear on my life that this has to be done. Can I count on you two? Please?”

The Ultimate Biker thinned his lips, glancing off to the side. “Gonna use it to trap the killer, huh? Tch… that _ does _make sense. Alright. Let’s nail the fucker.”

The blonde managed a small, grateful smile. “Thank you, Mondo. I really, really appreciate this. Kaito?”

Kaito grimaced at the sound of his name, the astronaut having one hand on his hip while he stared down at the other with an uncertain expression. “... Lies always come with a price, Kaede, and it’s almost always more than it's worth…” He stated seriously, an air of grim experience painting his dire words. After an eternity, he balled his fist and released it, his expression hardened decisively. “... I’ll trust you on this, because I know you’re good for it. Just promise me you won’t lose sight of the truth, alright? It’s easier than you think to lose control of your own stories.”

Kaede bowed her head. “I promise. Cross my heart and hope to… you know the rest.”

The purple-cloaked student smirked, a hint of his trademark heroic brashness returning to him. “Of course you won’t. Like I’d ever let one of my sidekicks wander down the wrong road… now, let’s get this thing over and done with. Everything after that’s a cakewalk.”

The former Ultimate Pianist couldn’t bring herself to fully mirror the smile, but a distant cousin to it slowly crossed across her features before the trio left the room. The instant they left, though, they almost literally bumped into an unusually focused Chiaki and a more typically jittery Mikan. Nanami noticed their presence first, turning to the opening door curiously and giving them a small smile that almost masked the curious glint in her soft pink eyes. “Hey hey. Looks like the trial’s about to start…” Chiaki pointed out. Mikan offered an almost pathetic wave with a blatantly strained nervous smile, apparently too scared to speak up and interrupt her classmate yet unwilling to let Kaede go without some sort of greeting. The warm grin the pianist returned it with practically gave the nurse a heart attack if her shocked expression was anything to go by.

“Hi, guys. Looks like we’re heading to the boiler room, so it’s a pretty long walk. Wanna catch each other up to speed on what we found on the way?”

“Sounds good. We should start now… I think,” Nanami agreed, and with that, the five Ultimates began on their way to the courtroom. Given where they were, it wouldn’t surprise Kaede if it would take half an hour to get there even at a decent pace, but the delay was something of a blessing to her mind. At least she’d have a little longer to figure things out. Chiaki fell into step beside Kaede as she explained at least some of what happened since they split off. “After you and Kaito left, Kirumi thought there might have been some clues in the ballroom, so I went with her. We didn’t find much there… but one of Gundham’s hamsters ended up leading us behind the stage, and we found a lift **with a bit of blood on it**.”

Kaede turned to her in surprise. “Blood? But… Hifumi didn’t die anywhere near the ballroom. Was it someone else’s?”

Nanami shook her head. “I can’t say no completely, but I doubt it. It’d be a little too coincidental, don’t you think? When we took a closer look, the lift had a sign saying its weight limit was three-hundred pounds. Hifumi’s profile says he was… a lot more than that, so we brought it back to your lab and had Sakura and Gonta test it out together. It didn’t break, but it also couldn’t move anymore until one of them got off. We don’t really know how it’s connected, but we think there has to be some way it is.”

**Truth Bullet added: Bloodied Lift**

Kaede hummed in thought. “That does sound pretty strange… is that when you and Mikan teamed up?”

Chiaki nodded. “While the three of them were testing that, Kirumi asked Mikan to see if she could find anything that could’ve been used as the murder weapon. I volunteered to join her, and we were just finishing in the kitchen when Monokuma said the investigation was over.”

_ “... Did she volunteer to be nice, or does this have something to do with those weird questions from the other day?” _Kaede connected in her mind with a hint of suspicion. She didn’t get to dwell on that, though, as the shorter girl had a suspicion of her own to address.

“So… it looked like you were coming out of Hifumi’s room when we met up. Did you find anything in there?” She asked, the unspoken follow up of _ why _they were in there carried quite clearly in her questioning if earnest gaze. 

“We were hoping to see if Hifumi might’ve left any clues in his room, but we couldn’t find anything,” Kaede lied as casually as she could, carefully making sure her eyes didn’t stray from the shockingly observant Ultimate Gamer's own. If Chiaki picked up on the deception, she gave no sign of it, the lying leader giving a mental sigh of relief as she continued. "I thought I might have found a possible murder weapon, but it was just a prop. Nothing all that useful, sorry."

Mikan nervously clasped her hands together from Kaede’s right. "R-really? Oh… I'm s-sorry for being selfish, but that actually makes me feel a bit better. Chiaki and I were looking for what could've been used to m-murder Hifumi, but **almost n-nothing seemed to have the right dimensions for it**…"

Kaede quirked an eyebrow curiously, raising a finger. "_ Almost _nothing? So there was something that came close?"

Tsumiki frowned, looking at the floor. "Um… w-well, we found an **iron skewer ** that wasn't that different. B-but it **wasn't as thick** was whatever was used on poor Hifumi, so it isn't the murder weapon…” 

“Yep. We checked pretty much everywhere, but there didn’t seem to be any missing knives or anything like that, either. It’s strange, but it’s almost like whatever was used for it vanished.” Chiaki added, her brow furrowed slightly with a small frown.

**Truth Bullet added: No Matching Murder Weapons**

_ “Nothing on the entire ship lined up with Hifumi’s wounds? Where could the killer have gotten something like that, and how?” _Akamatsu silently asked herself. On the outside, she gave a nod. “That’s good to know, even if it brings up more questions than it answers. Did you two find anything else?”

Mikan weakly tapped a finger against her cheek. “Um… I can’t think of anything else… o-oh! K-Kirumi said you wanted to talk with me, Kaede?” She suddenly recalled, perhaps a touch too enthusiastically.

“Right! I wanted to ask how the autopsy went. Did you find anything the Monokuma file didn’t mention?”

The purple-eyed nurse fidgeted a little. “O-oh... um… I’m positive that he gained the wounds to his head **after ** he died. While there was a lot of b-blood, it wasn’t as fresh as it would have been if he was still alive when it happened. With how clotted and thick it was, I think he was dead for **at least a few hours **before it happened. Um, I’m really sorry to say this so bluntly, but I don’t think he lived for very long after he got stabbed, either. With his injuries, the heart would’ve been too hurt and overworked, and he would have died in a couple minutes at most. That’s the best conclusion I can give… i-if I didn't make any mistakes, I mean…" She added apologetically. 

**Truth Bullet added: Mikan’s Autopsy Report**

Before Kaede could say anything, Kaito rebuked the nurse's self-depreciating remark. "C'mon, I'm sure you did it right! My sidekick knows how to pick 'em, and she picked you, so that means you're bound to succeed! It's like you're one of my sidekicks by proxy if you think about it!" He reassured with a beam that Kaede quickly backed up.

"Mhhm! Like I said at the start; I believe in you, so you should totally believe in yourself, too. You did great, Mikan. Peko said something pretty similar, so now we have it confirmed. Thank you so much for your help.”

“... Er… yeah. Good shit.” Mondo awkwardly attempted to support as well. Somewhat stilted as it was, the genuineness in his voice was impossible to mistake.

A shaky yet bright smile slowly spread across the nurse’s often fraught features. “... Heheh… thank you. I-I’m glad I could help…” She gratefully singsonged, and with that, all the clues of the investigation were discovered. Now, on the long walk to what would inevitably be the end of someone’s life, Kaede could do nothing but think about the evidence she’d gathered, and pray it would be enough.

She wouldn’t live to regret it if it wasn’t.

***

When the five finally reached the bulkhead leading to the boiler room, everyone else was already gathered, each in various stages of unease. It was quiet enough that the sounds of their approaching footsteps were loud enough to draw the crowd’s attention. “Hm. How nice of you all to arrive. I don’t believe I’ve had to wait on anything that long in quite some time…” Celeste hummed out, a subtle venom lacing her otherwise nonchalant words. Mikan let out a whimper.

“I-I’m sorry! We were by the kitchen, s-so it was a really long walk, b-but I’m still sorry! You can use me as furniture if you want!”

Celeste put a fist to her mouth. “Hm… tempting. Perhaps you would be serviceable as a footrest.”

“Wh- nobody’s using anyone as a footrest!” Kaede shouted out in disbelief. Every set of eyes in the room snapped to her in a moment, the retired pianist suddenly the center of attention. She blinked, clearing her throat and subconsciously straightening her tie before continuing. “... Hi, everyone…” She began rather lamely, the words she needed simply not coming to her. Speeches always came naturally to her, yet in that tense moment of uncertainty, nothing seemed right to say. With everyone staring at her so expectantly when she had no answers to give, she could suddenly understand Shuichi’s desire to hide behind his hat. “... I guess we all know why we’re here, and what we have to do. I don’t really know what else I can say other than I know we’ll get through this if we stick together, so that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. I wish I could say everything’s going to be okay… but I can’t lie to you guys. All we can do is survive and promise that this will be the last trial any of us ever have to go through. But before we can do that, we have to face it head on. So… let’s do exactly that.”

Not exactly her most inspiring speech, but something bright and hopeful wasn’t really appropriate. Not from her. Not for them. At the very least, that declaration was enough for Monokuma to make his entrance, the heavy steel bulkhead letting out a groan as its handle quickly spun around and it slid open to reveal their self-declared captain standing with his arms spread wide. “Oh, it’ll be someone’s last trial, that much is for sure! Thank you for that eloquent reminder that one of your buddies is gonna bite the bullet for good this time, Kaede! Puhuhuhu!”

“Shut the hell up!” Kaito spat out, shaking a fist at the bear warning. “Stop screwing around and just show us where the damn elevator is already!”

Monokuma crossed his arms in a pout. “Geez! You’re awfully pushy! Then again, maybe I should be glad to have such eager students! Very well, Mister Momota, your gracious host Captain Monokuma will grant your wish! Please, follow me!” The unstable ursine far too happily declared as he turned around and began waddling into the ominous, red-tinted darkness of the boiler room.

The former blackened looked amongst themselves for a moment, no one entirely willing to be the first to follow, until at last Kirumi stepped forth, her lips curled in a small frown but otherwise perfectly stoic as she addressed everyone. “Unfortunately, there is little point in delaying the inevitable. If I may be so bold, I believe it would be wise to get this over with as soon as possible.”

Sakura bowed her head as she joined the maid’s side. “I agree. Whatever machinations Monokuma has in store for us, the less time we give him to plan, the better.”

Peko stepped forward next, then Gundham, and then it wasn’t long before the entire group began walking forward and filtering through the thin, maze like and hellishly hoy halls of the heart of the ship. Kaede and her companions ended towards the front of the line up. While the blonde knew exactly how uncomfortable it would be, Kaito was decidedly less prepared, the Ultimate Astronaut’s face twisted in a sweat-drenched grimace. “Ugh…! This sucks… stupid bear…” He grumbled half under his breath, earning a scoff from Owada despite the beads of sweat rolling down his own face.

“You call this hot? Don’t be such a pussy… this is nothin’...”

Just ahead of them, the Supreme Overlord of Ice (who Kaede felt absolutely _ terrible _for in that big black coat and scarf) let out a low laugh. “The Antihero speaks truly. This lowly warmth is nothing compared to the fires of hell from which I formed eons ago. If anything, this is a refreshing reminder of my realm!” Tanaka insisted with a grin, despite the furrowing of his brow that suggested the exact opposite was true. Kaito scowled at him for a long moment before suddenly smirking.

“Heh… is that why your makeup’s running?”

The sheer panic in Gundham’s mismatched eyes was like he’d just been convinced everything he knew was fictional. “Wh-what?! Impossible! These markings are meant to last-” He put a finger up to his ash-pale face and drew it back, when his horrified expression sank to a cold, barely contained fury as Kaito chuckled at his expense. “... This deception will not be forgotten, Luminary. I promise you that…”

Kaede tried to stifle a smile at their antics, apparently failing if Gundham’s glower was anything to go by. After what felt like an eternity of trudging through the steam and humidity, they finally stood before the elevator Kaede had stumbled across days earlier, Monokuma’s claw marks still glinting dangerously in the warning red lights. Monokuma was standing at the door with his trademark grin. “Is that everyone? One, two, three… ah, screw it, you’d just get executed if you weren’t here, so I’m just gonna go out on a limb and assume all of you are stuffed together like a bunch of murderous sardines back there! I understand this setup’s a little more complex than what all of you are used to, so that’s why I felt the need to be a good captain and guide you little ones here, like moths to the flame! In the future, though, you brats are on your own, so I hope you paid attention! Are there any questions before you all hop on the elevator and ride your way to another wonderfully despairful court battle of life and death?”

“Hold on, if the elevator is all that’s in here, why did you insist that no one could come here? What’s so special about this place?” Kaede confronted, feeling the need to press the issue even if Monokuma was almost certainly going to sidestep it.

As expected, he did just that, holding up a paw and waggling it at her. “Ah ah ah! You’re getting ahead of yourself, little miss protagonist! That’s for me to know and you to find out later! And, just so you know, I’m not budging on this, so don’t try annoying me into changing my mind! I promise you I’m better at it! Now, any other questions?”

Leon’s voice shot up from a ways behind her. “Uh, yeah! Why the hell is it so hot in here?! I’m freakin’ drenched! This is mega uncool, man!”

Monokuma put both paws over his maw in a failed attempt to conceal his sinister giggle. “Puhuhuhu! What an unintentionally appropriate choice of words, Mister Kuwata! As for why? Well, it’d hardly be fair if the killer was the only one sweating buckets on the ride to the courtroom, now would it?” He cracked wise, going so far as to wink his smaller eye at everyone as he put an arm behind his head. “Besides…” The bear added, before his red eye lit up so brightly that it was nearly blinding to look at even through the haze of steam partly obscuring it. “You just might be about to go somewhere a lot warmer than this, so consider it a practice run for what awaits.”

The room fell deathly silent at that, only the gentle _ thrum _of the pipes and hiss of released steam daring to break the quiet. Monokuma’s smirk seemed to grow. “Anyone else? Going once? Going twice? Alrighty then! With that out of the way, it’s time for everyone’s favorite part of the game: the trial! See you down there!” The bear bid his farewell before leaping off to the side, disappearing amongst the darkness. The elevator doors slid open with a soft screech, and with nary a word, the fifteen teenagers stepped forward and into the cage of death. As the gates shuddered close once again and the loud humming of the gears sounded off before it began slowly rising upward, Kaede once again took a moment to consider the gravity of their situation.

** _"... None of this should have been possible. All of it was supposed to end with my execution. My life, the killing game, all of it..._ **

** _Yet that's not what happened. Against everything rational and good, I'm still alive, thrust into yet another twisted game of heartache and betrayal._ **

** _ _ **

_ **It seemed so simple the first time. Expose the mastermind, end the game, and die for what I'd done if I couldn't do that.** _

_ **But now, with everyone here relying on me... all my friends, classmates, and fellow murderers... I can't afford to just accept the end.** _

_ ** ** _

_ **Someone murdered Hifumi. No matter how much I hoped and prayed otherwise, someone here chose to take another life. Every piece of the puzzle is in front of me now. All that's left is to put them together and expose his killer.** _

_ **No matter the reason, I can't forgive whoever did this anymore than I could ever forgive myself.** _

_ **Even if I wanted to, I can't let them get away with this, for the sake of everyone here. For Hifumi. For Rantaro. For everyone that's died because of my mistakes...** _

_ ** ** _

_ **I refuse to fail again. I won't back down.** _

_ **I'll expose the lies, just like Shuichi did for me.** _

_ **I'll find the truth behind this case no matter what. No matter how painful it is to face their betrayal, I'll take on that burden for everyone. And more than that...** _

_ **I will do everything I can to make this the last deadly class trial."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked those trial slides at the end there, because let me tell you, they were an absolute bitch to make. Shoutouts to CSpratt for basically doing all the heavy lifting with it, and to my pal Denymeister who just finished V3 as of tonight! It'll be a while before he sees this, but given how much he helped with my previous story, I felt the need to make the shoutout. :D
> 
> As a side note, the ending bit of Kaede's monologue is inspired by Makoto's pre-trial monologue in the first case. If it seems familiar, that's why. Hope you all enjoyed! Next chapter is the start of the trial! Note that the ending truth bullets are in the comments this time, as there's not enough room in the notes to include them here.  
-MrCynical


	13. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Trial Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first trial of the voyage of mutual killing begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update less than two weeks after the last one? Damn, quarantine must really be giving me more time than usual...
> 
> Unfortunately, the list of truth bullets is so large that it can't actually fit in the author's notes anymore, so if you need a refresher, check out the first comment on the previous chapter. As a quick guide for the trial:  
Bold = Weak Point  
Italicized = Agree Point  
Bold Italicized = Correct Weak/Agree Point
> 
> Without further ado, let's begin!  
-MrCynical

The low whir of the elevator was the only sound to be heard as the fifteen Ultimates stood in deathly silence. Perhaps it was strange, but Kaede almost wished they would engage in the sort of tense banter Kokichi attempted on the ride down to her trial. At least then it might have felt less like a slowly moving morgue. She’d been nearly sick to her stomach last time, but that came from the knowledge of what answering for her crimes would entail. She could never have expected just how twisted her demise would turn out to be, but even then, at least there was a certainty of what would happen. No matter what they discovered at the trial, she never intended to make it out of the courtroom alive. 

No such certainty was around to comfort her this time. Whoever killed Hifumi already demonstrated that they were playing this sick game to win, and the deaths of everyone else present meant nothing compared to doing exactly that. It took considerable effort on Akamatu’s part to not let her eyes stray from the elevator doors to any of her fellow blackened, the blonde quietly taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. _ “Stay calm. Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, so don’t psych yourself out and get scared. Just look towards the truth, not whoever’s in the way of it…” _ She told herself, squeezing her fists tightly against her sides. She could do this. She _ would _do this. As long as everyone worked together, they could overcome it with ease!

_ “Maybe if I repeat that lie enough, I’ll trick myself into believing it, too…” _

Kaede mentally kicked herself for having such a grim thought. _ “N-no, it’s not a lie! It’s the truth! And I’ll use this trial to prove it!” _ She swore to herself, glancing down to the floor in shame. This was _ maddening _ . How did the others manage to go through _ six _ trials with this damning uncertainty lingering over them when it was rattling her already? _ “Come on, don’t fall apart now! It’s always best to get bad stuff over with quickly, right? Just hold it together long enough to do the hard part, and then the rest of this won’t matter. They’re counting on you, so stay strong, Kaede!” _

Mercifully, someone finally chose to break the silence. “Hmm… rather unusual, isn’t it? We’ve been moving upward for quite some time now. Just how high are we going, I wonder? And to where?” Korekiyo’s voice slithered out, his low and raspy musing shattering the silence like a thunderbolt and ripping Kaede from her own unwanted ponderings. Gundham let out a low hum from towards the front of the elevator. 

“Is it not clear, Observer? Each and every person aboard this elevator consigned themselves to damnation when they claimed another’s life. Clearly, we are being delivered from the underworld to purgatory, where our own judgement shall decide our fate. To make the journey with so many while bypassing the River Styx, however… the depths of Monokuma’s dark magic are deeper than even I had imagined…”

Tsumugi let out a cross between a whimper and an almost disappointed sigh. “I kind of thought it’d be more like a big grey forest filled with shinigami. At least one of us could have gotten a cool book out of it in that case…”

“Erm… y-you guys don’t really think we’re in… y’know… h-e-double hockey sticks, do you? Th-that’s just part of your act, right, Gundham?” Teruteru fretfully questioned, his voice high enough that it almost sounded like he was begging Tanaka to concede that point.

“Of course we’re not, because we’re not dead! And we’re not spirits or some crap either, so don’t even bring that up!” Kaito dismissed forcefully. Aside from an annoyed sound from Gundham, no one bothered arguing with the brash man, once again letting the elevator fall into silence. Kaede didn’t have to suffer through it for long, however, as it was only a few more moments before their giant cage shuddered to a stop and let out a sharp _ ding _as the doors slid open once more. With only a moment’s hesitation, the students walked through the entrance and into the sprawling trial room before them. 

The courtroom was as massive as the hall Kaede remembered, though the almost church-like design of that court had been swapped for a spacious observation deck with a perfect three-hundred-and-sixty degree viewing area of large windows in place of walls that gave an unrestricted view of the oil black ocean below and blood red sky above. The exception was the high-above ceiling that broke the illusion with a massive mock-up of Monokuma’s signature red eye glowering down at them all. Were it not for the bright red carpet on top of the darkly colored steel floor, it would be easy to mistake what was solid ground and what was the ocean. The bear himself sat atop a luxurious throne high above everyone’s trial stands directly behind where Rantaro’s portrait had resided in her trial. That spot sat empty for now, but immediately to its left resided a greyscale photo of Hifumi, a pair of cartoonish X’s drawn over his eyes and a similarly childish drawing of a tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dead cartoon character disrespectfully scrawled over it, much to Kaede’s disgust. Even in death, Monokuma insisted on humiliating them… repulsive. Monokuma’s permanent grin grew as he spotted them all, throwing his paws in the air in a grand gesture. “Welcome, welcome! Welcome one and all to the new and improved trial grounds! Please, find your seats so that the trial may begin! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m really pumped for this!”

“No one’s excited for this but you, you monster…” Akamatsu spat with a glare, tensing her fists even as she did as instructed and looked for her stand.

Monokuma pouted, hanging his head in mock-hurt. “Monster? You wound me, Miss Akamatsu… and after I went out of my way to give you the best seat in the house, too! I mean, what could be better than getting to stare right at me through the whole trial?” His usual grating cheer came back at that, Kaede giving him a confused look until she checked the nameplate on the first stand directly across from the elevator. Sure enough, the spot that had belonged to Shuichi the first time around was now hers, with Monokuma and an uneasy Mikan dead ahead of her. The blonde looked up from her gold-emblazoned name to glower at the bear.

“Not having to do your sick trials at all to start with!” She shot back. He simply scoffed at her.

“A killing game without any trials? What do you think this is, some cheap spinoff? No way, young lady! Monokuma provides nothing but the finest and most genuine killing game experiences! My brand depends on that! Now stop complaining, it’s really getting on my nerves!” Monokuma growled, his welcoming posture swapping to a more threatening pose. The musician kept up her glare but bit her lip lest she push her luck too far.

Someone let out a pleased hum to her left and drew her attention. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m certainly not complaining about my spot. The way I see it, _ I _got the best spot. What could be better than getting stuck between two fine ladies?” Teruteru said with a deceptively easy smile, giving Kaede a confident wink despite the nervous sweat still making his earlier unease as clear as day. She frowned at him, slightly sympathetic given their prior conversation but undeniably feeling the urge to put him in his place. Thankfully, the other girl he was referring to was more than willing to handle that for her as Sakura’s deep voice rumbled out a warning.

“For your own protection, Teruteru, pray I don’t see your eyes drifting to anything untoward. This trial will be the least of your concerns if I do. Do you understand?”

Teruteru raised his hands up a touch defensively. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Sakura. Getting choked is only fun up to a point, and I’m sure we have two very different definitions for that.”

Kaede barely kept herself from reaching for her throat as a phantom pain pulsed out threateningly, looking away from the pair without a word. _ “Don’t think about it. Stay calm. Breathe…” _ She ordered herself, cursing the fact that having air in her lungs suddenly felt so alien.

“... Tch… I guess it’s better than being next to the mask freak…” Leon muttered under his breath as he took the stand to her right, the baseball star taking a few moments to cast scrutinizing looks at the girls on either side of him as if they’d suddenly lunge out with kitchen knives and attack him. Just past him was a pensive Chiaki, whose light pink eyes slowly roved over the rapidly filling courtroom with an attentive gaze. The longer Kuwata’s eyes lingered on her, the more uncomfortable Kaede felt, the blonde pulling her arms closer to her instinctually.

“Leon, I get it if you’re on edge, but could you stop staring at me, please? It’s pretty rude you know…” Akamatsu lightly scolded with a frown. Her words seemed to snap him out of a stupor as he suddenly shook his head and glanced away, rubbing his bright red hair awkwardly.

“Er, sorry. Lame as it is to say, I kinda spaced out for a minute there…” He semi-apologized before turning his greyish eyes in the opposite direction. Kaede’s lips thinned doubtfully.

_ “Spaced out, huh? You’re right; that is a lame explanation. But what did I do to screw things up? Is this still about whatever was on that tape...? Well, if it is, there’s not a lot I can do about it right now. At least he stopped, anyway...” _

It seemed she wasn’t the only one displeased with her spot, however. “Oh, no. I do believe there’s been a mistake. Surely you don’t expect me to stand here next to _ these two _…” Celeste’s dignified voice carried a slight growl to it as the gambler stared up at Monokuma challengingly. On either side of her podium stood an equally annoyed Gundham and Kaito, the Dark Lord’s arms crossed with a glower on his face while Kaito put a hand on his hips and rolled his eyes.

“Believe me, witch, it is hardly my desire to be anywhere near your foul aura, either. Fate mocks us both with this outcome...” Tanaka grumbled. Ludenberg quickly swiveled to him, her ferocious glare clear even with only part of her face visible from where Kaede stood.

“_ My _foul aura? I’m being lectured about foulness from the man that reeks of rodents and screams out absurdities at any given opportunity?” She demanded incredulously. “How ridiculous. I refuse.”

“Seriously? C’mon, don’t be such a baby!” Kaito scolded, in turn taking the gambler’s wrath upon himself.

“Says the _ other _ person with no volume control and even less self-awareness. Perhaps you’ve simply gone deaf, but I’d rather not lose my hearing between the two of you shouting all the time. Monokuma, _ surely _ there’s somewhere else I can stand.”

Despite herself, Kaede couldn’t help but hold a finger up. “Do you want to trade? I’d be fine taking your spot.”

Celeste turned to her, setting a hand over her mouth as she seemed to contemplate the offer for a long moment. Her eyes shifted slightly to the people flanking Kaede on either side, and after a moment, the goth shook her head slightly. “Tempting, truly, but being next to Teruteru is perhaps the only worse position than my current one.”

“I’m glad you think so, because no one’s changing seats with anyone else! I spent a lot of time coming up with this set up, and I’m not reworking it on her royal majesty’s whims, so there! Now hurry up and find your seats!” Monokuma flatly refused. It didn’t take much longer to everyone to find their podiums, and soon all the surviving students stood in a grand circle.

“Lessee, one, two, three… fourteen, fifteen, yep! That’s everyone! Thank you all for coming!” Monokuma gleefully announced.

“Ain’t like we had much of a choice, you know…” Mondo pointed out with a scowl. Monokuma just shrugged.

“Well, free will is a lie and everything’s fictional, so who’s to say what’s a choice or not? Point being, after a _ way _ too long waiting period, we can finally begin the real meat and potatoes of this whole shebang! Now then, seeing as how a number of you guys didn’t _ hang around _ for very long last time, I’m going to be giving a basic explanation of the class trial before you _ step up to bat _ and things really _ heat up _,” The maniacal mammal segwayed, the emphasis of his words enough to make it clear exactly who he was referring to with his oh-so subtle digs. Kaede swallowed down the bitter anger threatening to poison her thoughts and forced herself to listen to Monokuma’s description. Her revenge would come when she found a way out of here and could make the monster behind all this pay. For now, she had to focus on getting this right. After giving the same line for line spiel as his explanation from her trial, Monokuma leaned back in his throne contentedly. “... Alrighty! And with that, I officially declare this class trial in session!”

Kaede made the first move. “Before anything else, I want to give whoever did this a chance to spare us all a lot of heartache and confess right now. If you’re the one that killed Hifumi, then please, just admit it,” She pleaded. Her words lingered in the air for several suffocatingly quiet moments before she let out a weary sigh. “... Alright then…”

Gundham fixed his red and grey eyes on her with a hard expression. “Surely you didn’t expect the killer to actually step forward after all the effort they put into concealing their wicked deeds, did you?”

Akamatsu shook her head defeatedly. “Honestly? No. But I wanted to at least give them a chance. Let’s get started, then.”

Tsumugi shifted awkwardly in place, her brow creased deeply. “Um… where exactly _ should _ we start? This is plainly a pretty big case.”

Leon gained a slightly cross expression as he held up a hand. “I’ve got an idea. This is gonna sound really stupid, but... did anyone find a bunch of numbers or something written in blood? ‘Cause if you did, flip them over and it probably spells out the killer’s name.” He asked, shockingly straight faced as he made that ridiculously specific claim.

Peko crossed her arms as she incredulously narrowed her fierce red eyes behind her glasses. “You’re joking. No one would leave such blatant and clear-cut evidence behind. It’s ridiculous to even suggest something like that.” 

Celeste smiled cruelly as she met Kuwata’s gaze. “Indeed. It would take a truly idiotic person to miss a clue as damning as that, wouldn’t it, Leon?” She questioned with a mockingly innocent tone that made Leon’s face turn red with anger.

“Oh, like you knew what the hell that meant before that Kyoko chick pointed it out? Screw you, Celeste!” He snarled out, shaking a ringed fist at the gambler. After a moment of seemingly jostling the rage out of himself, the fiery-haired Ultimate crossed his arms with a huff. “Whatever, man. Just thought I’d ask, alright? Ya don’t have to jump down my throat over it.”

_ “... Did he seriously get caught because he didn’t notice someone wrote his name down? That… almost sounds like a joke.” _Kaede somewhat shamefully thought to herself. On the outside, she shook her head. “No, it’s a fair thing to bring up. The sooner we have something to work off of, the better. We could spend hours going in circles if we don’t have something to focus on.”

“Then that is what we have to do. When fighting a tough opponent, the first step is to identify their weak points and target those before you attempt the more solid areas. That leaves the matter of which weak point we choose to strike first.” Sakura wisely intoned, her powerful arms folded like sheathed blades. 

Kirumi bowed her head in agreement. “That seems an apt strategy. Perhaps it would be best to go over the basics of the case and see where the most misconceptions lie?”

“Ah, Gonta agree with that! Gonta not really good at mysteries, so basics would be very helpful!” The muscular man chimed in.

Mikan rather reluctantly raised a hand. “U-um, I’m s-sorry, b-but shouldn’t we start with everyone’s alibis? I-it seems like knowing what everyone was doing w-would be good to know…”

“A logical idea, but it’s inefficient at the moment. Given that the murder happened during nighttime, nearly everyone’s alibi is simply going to be that they were in bed, and there’s nothing anyone can say that can disprove that outright. Once the facts of the case are established, it will be easier to tell who’s lying or not.” Celeste dismissed. It wasn’t especially unkind, but Mikan still wilted at the objection all the same.

“O-oh… s-sorry…”

Chiaki gave a small nod. “It’s fine, Mikan. But I agree with Celeste, too. Things will go a lot more smoothly if we have some common ground.”

Kaito slammed his fists together determinedly. “Then let’s do it! Ready, Kaede?”

Akamatsu nodded confirmingly. “Kirumi, could you start us off?”

“Certainly. I’ll begin with the Monokuma File, and we’ll proceed from there.” Tojo said as she brought out her monopad, and with that, the first debate of the trial began.

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“The victim, Mister Hifumi Yamada, was found dead in the Ultimate Pianist’s lab just before **seven AM this morning **by Kaede and myself. Approximately a minute later, Miss Ogami arrived, triggering the body discovery announcement.”

Korekiyo clicked his tongue as he held up a finger. “Pardon my intrusion, but that caught my interest. Sakura was **not with you when you first found the body**, you say?” He questioned, though it came across as more of a statement. His yellow eyes narrowed slightly. “If I may be blunt, what exactly were you doing so close by, and how did you know to investigate Kaede’s lab, Sakura?”

The towering woman bowed her head. “I was **returning from a workout **in my lab when I heard a scream. Fearing the worst, I ran to the source of it, and encountered Kaede and Kirumi.”

Kaede pursed her lips with a hint of embarrassment. “It’s true. I… was pretty shocked when we found Hifumi’s body. You were saying, Kirumi?”

“Right. There’s no specified time of death beyond the fact that it happened during nighttime. According to the Monokuma File, Mister Yamada died of excessive blood loss. At some point, he suffered **two lacerations** to the chest and a crushed skull without **any other notable injuries**.”

Gonta’s brow furrowed considerably, the giant boy somewhat shyly raising a hand. “Erm… lass-eh-rations? Sorry, Gonta not understand…”

“_ It means he was stabbed _.” Peko bluntly explained.

“Who cares about breaking out a dictionary right now? Seems like there was something _ hella more important _ than that!” Leon scoffed with an exaggerated frown as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

“Huh? What’s that?” Kaito asked with a confused look.

Leon rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Maybe the fact that we know he ** _died getting his freaking head smashed in_ **?!”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede shook her head. “You’ve got that wrong, Leon.”

Kuwata turned to her in clear confusion. “Huh? Why’re you so sure about that?”

“Because there’s evidence that proves there’s no way that’s how Hifumi died. Isn’t there, Mikan?”

The timid nurse flinched violently at the sound of her name, her greyish eyes going wide as they snapped to Kaede. “H-huh? M-me?” She sputtered out in slightly terrified surprise. Kaede offered her a reassuring look.

“Remember what you told me about your autopsy?” She lightly pressed. It turned out to be just what Tsumiki needed to snap back to reality as the nurse suddenly straightened up despite the nervous stammer shaking her words.

“O-oh! Yes! Um, when I was l-looking at Hifumi’s body, I noticed that the blood around his head wounds was thicker than it should have been if he was alive when his skull w-was crushed. Um… to put it simply, H-Hifumi had already been dead for hours when that happened...” Mikan elaborated as professionally as she could given the fact that it looked like a strong wind could send her flying. 

Leon tilted his head to the side in bafflement. “Huh? Hold on a second, you’re saying he was dead for _ hours _ ?” He parroted, before disgusted horror began spreading across his features. “Wh- _ dude _! What kinda sick psycho does shit like that?”

“Probably the same kind of person that stabs people to death in the first place…” Tsumugi unhelpfully added with a frown.

“That’s irrelevant right now. Throwing labels around is meaningless until we have a better understanding of how the crime happened and who committed it. _ That _should be what we’re discussing.” The Ultimate Swordswoman firmly reasserted, drawing a nod from Kaede.

“Peko’s right. We have to get all the facts before we worry about anything else.”

Tojo cupped her chin in thought. “Perhaps the first thing we should establish is what precisely was used to kill Mister Yamada. Miss Nanami, were you and Miss Tsumiki able to identify anything that might have been the murder weapon?”

Chiaki shook her head apologetically. “Sorry, but no. We looked around as much as we could, but nothing seemed to match up.”

“Maybe they threw it out the window when they were done with it? That’d make sure no one could find it.” Teruteru suggested, only to be countered by the Ultimate Entomologist of all people.

“Uh, Gonta no think that possible. Isn’t it rule that **no evidence get thrown in ocean**? If killer destroy clue that way, wouldn’t they be punished?”

Their captor decided to chime in at that with a gleeful tone. “Yep! We here in the business of despair are very eco-conscious! We don’t want a bunch of evidence wasting away at the bottom of the sea, where the only things getting killed are sea turtles and fish! It’s much more exciting to have it here, where it can help kill some of you guys! Anyone that tries to dispose of evidence that way will find themselves going overboard next!” Monokuma gleefully elaborated.

“Mister Gokuhara and Monokuma are correct. Rule fifteen makes it explicitly clear that disposing of evidence that way is considered a serious violation of the rules,” Kirumi confirmed as she looked up from her monopad. Setting the device to the side, the maid once again bowed her head. “Given that everyone but the victim is present, we can say with absolute certainty that the killer did not do as Mister Hanamura theorized.”

Celeste let out an almost disappointed sigh. “Loath as I am to even partially agree, Teruteru’s suggestion is not wholly idiotic. It is possible the killer put the weapon somewhere we wouldn’t think to look.”

Kaito pulled at his goatee as he theorized aloud. “Somewhere we wouldn’t think to look, huh...? Hey, wait a second!” He suddenly shouted, his eyes going wide with realization as they locked on Korekiyo. “Back during our game, Kiyo stuck the murder weapon inside of a statue. Do you think the killer this time could’ve done something similar?”

Shinguji let out a considering hum as he wrapped his arms around himself. “An astute observation, Kaito. I’m unsure if anyone that survived my trial would risk copying my tactics while I’m still alive, but the possibility is certainly on the table.”

Nanami held up a finger as she spoke. “Actually, I was thinking about that, too. There was a case like that in my game, so I kept an eye out for anything that might’ve been a secret weapon. I even checked all the meat in the kitchen by pulling on the bones, but-”

“Wh- now hold on a minute!” Teruteru suddenly shouted out, the tiny chef rounding on the gamer with an aghast look on his face. “Now why would you go and do something like that?! That’s… that’s unthinkable!”

Gundham scoffed, glowering at the portly cook. “You speak as if we’ve forgotten that was _ your _treacherous deception to begin with, Teruteru.”

Hanamura angrily shook his fists. “That’s beside the point! The point is you’re telling me you went and touched my meat without asking?! Sacre bleu, Chiaki!”

The girl in question just stared at him in blank incomprehension as Tsumugi scrunched her face a little. “Um… I can’t tell if this is more innuendo, or if he’s serious right now…”

“Serious as a damn heart attack! Do you have any idea how unsanitary that is?! I’m gonna have to throw all of it out now! There’s a reason you always use protection no matter how much you want to feel it!” He furiously protested.

_ “... He either has no idea what he sounds like right now, or every idea. I don’t know which is worse…!” _ Kaede thought with a wince. Deciding she’d heard quite enough about Teruteru’s meat being violated, she butted into the conversation. “Hey, we’re getting off track here, guys. Teruteru, I’m really sorry about your… _ ingredients _, but we really have to focus on the investigation right now. You can sort this out later.”

The Ultimate Chef’s glare lost some of its edge until it finally faded into a sulk. “... A-alright, fine. I can show her the right way to handle someone’s meat later…” He begrudgingly condeded, and just this once, Kaede decided to pretend he meant that in the least sexual way possible.

Kirumi politely cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the court. “If we’re finished with that matter for now, I’m afraid we still haven’t addressed where exactly the weapon could have been hidden. I believe knowing the places it could have been kept could help identify what was used to begin with.”

“... H-hey… we’re overlooking something pretty obvious, y’know?” Leon somewhat hesitantly spoke up, looking at Kaede… or, rather, past Kaede. The musician quirked an eyebrow as he followed his gaze all the way to the Ultimate Swordswoman.

Peko narrowed her eyes, her glare as sharp as a blade through the lenses of her glasses. “If you have an accusation to make, say it.”

Kuwata visibly stiffened at that, a hint of color draining from his face, but he slowly swallowed it down and followed through on his statement. “... You know what? Yeah, I’m saying it coulda been you!”

Akamatsu looked between the two in shock. _ “Peko could have been the culprit…? I can’t deny that it’s possible, but… is that really true…? I better listen in and see if there’s anything wrong with his argument…” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“Hold on, what’s making you say Peko did it?!” Kaito immediately interrupted with a challenging look.

“I would also like an explanation. As far as I’m aware, she’s done **nothing to warrant suspicion**…” Ogami added, staring at Leon expectantly.

The Ultimate Baseball Pro threw a hand out in Peko’s direction with a somewhat strangled cry of frustration. “Seriously?! C’mon, you all know what I mean! She’s literally carrying a sword on her right now! Don’t you _ think that’s suspicious _?!”

Pekoyama tensed her jaw as more and more eyes drifted towards her, the warrior’s podium sliding into the center of the court as a red spotlight faintly glowed from above and the other podiums slowly began circling her. “My sword is bamboo. While I won’t deny that it’s still capable of killing, it is **impossible for it to have stabbed Hifumi**.”

Chiaki nodded in assent. “It’s true. It’s completely blunt.”

“But can we be certain **your sword** is the one in the sheath right now?” Celeste questioned, resting a fist on her chin to mask her expression.

Sakura’s eyebrows twitched slightly as she fixed the gambler with a questioning look. “I don’t understand. Who else’s sword could she have?”

“Oh! I think I know this one!” Tsumugi much too excitedly interjected. “You’re saying she’s the one who took _ the sword from the casino _, right?”

“I’m stating that it’s a possibility, at least,” Ludenberg corrected. “Certainly, it would be_ rather foolish to commit murder _ with a weapon people know you have.”

“If Peko did have another sword,” Gundham rumbled. “Then even if she is indeed carrying her usual blade, we cannot ignore the possibility that she ** _killed him with it and stowed it elsewhere_ **. Perhaps she pierced the veil and left it in another realm?”

The Ultimate Cosplayer seemed to space out. “A swordswoman so skilled, she can cut through reality itself? I wonder if she ever _ ate an Op-Op fruit _…”

** _BREAK!_ **

“Actually, that’s something we can be sure she didn’t do!” Kaede shouted out, pointing a finger up with a proud look of realization.

“Yeah! There’s no way someone can use a sword to cut through the universe itself! The idea’s completely ridiculous!” Momota barked out with a fist in the air. Kaede’s burst of confidence fumbled slightly, her finger curling downward with a frown.

“Er… that’s true, but that’s not what I meant. There’s no way Peko could have used the sword from the casino to kill Hifumi. Mondo knows what I mean.”

Mondo’s eyes lit with comprehension as he caught on to what she was talking about. “Yeah, come to think of it. You’re talking about the fake one we found in Hifumi’s room, right?” The biker asked. Kaede nodded.

“Yep! During the investigation, we ended up finding a sword that matches up with the one missing from the casino. I thought it could’ve been the murder weapon, but not only did it not have any blood on it, it wasn’t even a real sword. It was just a really convincing looking paper mache prop,” Kaede explained, a grin spreading across her features as she clasped her hands together. “So, seeing as how we found it _ and _it wasn’t real, I’m confident there’s no way Peko could have used it!”

A general murmur of debate resonated throughout the courtroom as the gathered students mulled over the information. Peko’s stand gradually shifted back into place, the swordswoman inclining her head gratefully towards the ex-pianist. “Thank you, Kaede. While that should be proof enough, if you’re not yet convinced, let me ask: if I were the culprit, why would I use a sword and implicate myself at all?”

Leon looked a bit uneasy, his lips curling in uncertainty as he glanced away, rubbing his head. “... Tch… I guess that’d be kinda obvious, huh? I… whatever. Sorry.”

Peko’s expression didn’t change, but she offered a nod in the redhead’s direction. “The matter’s been resolved, so it can be put aside.”

For a moment, Kaede had thought her argument had worked flawlessly. Unfortunately, after a moment, a low chuckle from Korekiyo echoed in the spacious hall as the anthropologist's snakish eyes bored into her. “Keheheh… is that so?”

Mondo glowered at Shinguji, his lips morphing into a slight snarl. “What’s so funny about that?”

The lanky teen shook his head, running his fingers along the brim of his cap. “My apologies. It’s simply that it seems rather convenient. You found almost completely exonerating evidence that just so happens to come up when someone becomes the prime suspect, when no one else was around to confirm that discovery… if I may be blunt, Kaede, surely even you can see how this seems, especially given your defense of Shuichi in your trial.”

The orange-haired man let out a growl as his sneer worsened. “Hey, weren’t you listening, asshole? I was with her when she found it!”

“And I was in the same room! You callin’ all three of us liars?!” Kaito angrily demanded. Korekiyo clicked his tongue.

“Not necessarily. I was under the impression that only Kaede and Mondo were present for this supposed discovery. It’s less likely for three people to lie than two… but not impossible. Besides, that’s not the only thing I find odd,” He remarked, unphased by the infuriated looks he was getting from the pair. Instead, he focused his attention on Kaede, meeting her gaze with a hint of intrigue. “You claim you were in Hifumi’s room. While it’s reasonable to search the victim’s domicile for clues, I find it curious, given my other concern. Is there anyone who can confirm what you say?”

Before Kaede could respond, an almost disappointed hum from Celeste drew everyone’s attention. “I’ll admit, I was hoping this matter could stay discrete, but clearly the opportunity for that has passed. Seeing as how it’s bound to come up sooner or later, I’ll simply save us the trouble of a debate and clarify this now: I asked Kaede to investigate Hifumi’s room, and when we parted ways, she did so with Kaito and Mondo. Given that, I am inclined to believe she’s being truthful.” The Ultimate Gambler conceded, much to Kaede’s shock.

_ “Celeste coming to the rescue? Huh. Maybe I’ve been a bit too harsh on her…” _Akamatsu noted, offering the woman in question a grateful smile. 

“U-um…” A painstakingly shy voice muttered from dead ahead. Kaede turned to see Mikan somewhat hesitantly raising her hand, as if a pack of wolves would suddenly descend upon her if she moved too quickly. Visibly mustering up all her courage, the nurse spoke up in her defense as well. “K-Kaede, Mondo, and K-Kaito were definitely in Hifumi’s r-room together. Chiaki a-and I met them there. S-so, um, I believe them.” She said with the closest thing to confidence Kaede had ever seen in the frightful girl. Chiaki gave a confirming nod with a soft smile, and with that, Akamatsu was confident that she was in the clear.

“Does that prove it, Kiyo?” She questioned. 

Korekiyo bowed his head slightly, tipping his hat. “Yes. Your story is quite inarguable, it seems. Very well; I concede my point and apologize for my suspicion, though I’m sure you understand the need for it.”

Kaede thinned her lips, but nodded concedingly. Peko crossed her arms, her back straight as a rod as she spoke decisively. “Then it’s agreed that the sword from the casino could not have been the murder weapon. Are there any other theories for what it could have been?”

The first to speak up was Kirumi, though the maid seemed almost hesitant to state her theory. “If I may, there’s something I still find concerning about this. Kaede, you said the sword was paper mache, correct?”

Akamatsu tilted her head curiously as she answered. “Right. It’s a little strange, but what seems wrong about it?”

“Wrong? Nothing on its own… but there’s something we’re overlooking regarding that. As strange as it may seem, it would be less peculiar for Hifumi to have had a real sword than a prop given where we are. While I have no doubt that the sword you found was indeed a fake, are we certain it was _ actually _the sword from the casino?”

Kaede’s brow furrowed in uncertainty. “Er… I don’t follow. How could it have been a fake if-”

Mondo’s head snapped up, cognition clear in his features. “Hold on. I think I get it, actually. Yamada was a total fuckin’ nerd. That’d probably mean he knew about costumes and shit like that, right?” He suggested, sounding decently confident in his deduction. Tojo gave a light shake of his head.

“While that’s certainly possible, Mister Owada, there’s unfortunately a larger suspect if my suspicions are true. It brings me no joy to say this, but surely creating a paper mache replica of a real weapon they possessed would hardly be a challenge for someone like the Ultimate Cosplayer. Would it, Miss Shriogane?” The maid accused, a nearly apologetic yet determined glint shining in her visible eye as she focused on the startled girl in question.

_ “Another accusation with this sword at the heart of it… is it really that important, or is this all part of someone’s plan? I guess there’s only one way to find out…” _The former Ultimate Pianist steeled herself for another round of debate as they once again began to circle around a suspect like sharks in bloodied water.

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“H-huh? Me? But… that’d be a **horrible misuse of cosplay**! I could never shame my passion like that!” Tsumugi cried out in dismay.

“That’s worse than being accused of killin’ a guy?” Mondo groused.

Ignoring his comment, Kirumi continued. “Your experience with costume design would mean you would be familiar with how to create props _ like the one Kaede described _, and your closeness with Mister Yamada would provide you with the opportunity to plant it in his room.”

“Yet the same could apply for Hifumi as well. Though it might **not have been his talent**, he made his appreciation quite clear during our discussions. He could also have had the weapon and made a duplicate for one reason or another...” Shinguji pointed out.

Tsumugi wringed her hands as her face took on a faint shade of blue. “I plainly don’t think either of us did it! I mean, where would we even get cosplay supplies here?”

Gundham looked at the bluenette doubtfully. “Knowing Monokuma, the gift shop is bound to be rife with _ instruments of pandemonium _ . It’s not impossible to think one could gather ** whatever ingredients of catastrophe** they needed aboard this ship.”

“I have to agree. While Mister Yamada may have been able to do it, it would be irresponsible to ignore Miss Shriogane’s skill at such things, especially given the fact that she’s been alone for vast spans of time lately,” Kirumi reasserted. “If there is some proof for your defense, please, share it. But as it stands, there’s nothing to say you didn’t ** _purchase the sword previously_ ** and then spend that time afterwards creating the false sword.”

** _BREAK!_ **

A flash of inspiration struck Kaede like a lightning bolt, her eyes snapping open as an idea formed. “Hold on a second, Kirumi. I think there actually is something that can prove it. Celeste, you said the sword was still in the casino when you left it yesterday, right? Do you remember around what time that was?”

Ludenberg let out a soft hum as she raised an ironclad finger to her lips in thought. “Hmm… I should say approximately **four-thirty **in the evening. Is there something you’ve realized?”

“I think so. I don’t know a lot about arts and crafts, but paper mache takes a while to dry, doesn’t it?” Akamatsu pressed. 

Tsumugi’s lips tugged downward. “Well, I’d say yes, but that’s plainly suspicious coming from the main suspect…” She lamented. Thankfully for her, there happened to be another expert to back her up.

“Then allow me to confirm. You are correct, Kaede; even the most efficient methods take at least twenty-four hours before they are ready. It’s been practiced for over two-thousand years, but there has yet to be a technique that can speed the process without compromising its integrity. Did you know it was originally used by warriors of the Han dynasty of China to craft helmets? To make such equipment out of mere paper… humanity’s ingenuity is truly incredible…” Korekiyo noted in a scholarly tone. After a moment, he shook his head. “Ah, but that’s beside the point. More to the matter at hand, paper mache most certainly requires a large investment of time.”

“Yeah! I remember making a paper mache model of a rocket as a kid. It took a full day for just the base to dry before I could even get started painting the thing. Looked awesome when it was done, but I was in it for the long haul.” Kaito mentioned with a nostalgic smirk.

Kaede nodded as she confidently held up a finger. “Then that proves that there’s no way Tsumugi _ or _ Hifumi made a duplicate!”

Kiyo chuckled, the corners of his mask visibly lifting in a grin. “Keheheh… yes, I believe I know where you’re going with this. Cleverly played.”

Teruteru tapped his fingers together uncertainly. “Erm, maybe you could shine a light on it for the rest of us? I don’t quite understand…”

“Think about it. If they wanted to make a decent copy, they’d probably have to get a pretty close look at it, right? But Celeste just said that it was still in the exchange counter when she left, so we know that it must have been there until at least half-past four yesterday. If they bought it any time after that, even if they copied it right away, there’s no way it would be dry enough to look like the real thing by the time we found it!”

Kirumi’s eyes widened in shock. “Which means that it would be impossible for either of them to have made the false sword…” She concluded, raising a hand to her mouth as she solved the puzzle. Turning her sights back to Tsumugi, she bowed her head apologetically, her hands folding into each other in front of her. “... It seems I’ve made a grave error in judgement. For that, I offer you my sincerest apologies, Miss Shirogane.”

Tsumugi rubbed at her arm with a small sigh. “It’s fine. I guess it was just plainly bad luck that things happened like this... ah, but maybe that means I’m in for really good luck going forward!” She more chipperly noted.

“Alright, so we proved Tsumugi didn’t do it! Nice one, guys!” Kaito enthusiastically declared. Not everyone was quite as passionate, however, as Celeste was quick to correct him.

“Kaede proved she did not forge the sword, and nothing more. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start unreasonably removing suspects from the list.”

Tsumugi deflated slightly. “... Oh. I guess I still have to wait for that luck to kick in…”

Sakura let out a low hum. “We can’t waste time arguing about who the culprit is before we solve the rest of the crime, especially as we’ve yet to solve the mystery of where the real sword is.”

The blackened once more fell into a general chatter without any real ideas being put forth. After a short period, Gokuhara thinned his lips as he gave a less than confident suggestion. “Um… maybe this ‘cause Gonta not smart, but what if real sword _ is _ fake?”

Leon looked at him like the biggest idiot in the world, his eyes narrowed in a flat look of disbelief. “How can the real one be the fake one? What kinda sense does that make?”

Despite Leon’s confusion, the words clicked instantly for Kaede. “Actually, I think Gonta’s right. This whole time, we’ve been working off the theory that the sword from the casino must have been a real one that went missing, but maybe we’re just totally overcomplicating things. For all we know, it was always just a prop.”

Peko’s mouth drew into a thin line. “Which would render almost all of our debate so far null and void… if it was a trick to send us down the wrong path, the culprit certainly succeeded.”

Kaito let out a cross of a growl and a scoff. “There’s no way all that could’ve been for nothing!” He shouted out angrily, earning a well-hidden wince and significantly less subtle glare from Celeste. 

Mondo mirrored his expression, crossing his arms. “... You know what? Fuck this bullshit. Hey, Monokuma!” He demanded as his snakish eyes turned to the bear silently watching them all. The captain tilted his head exaggeratedly, raising a paw to one ear as his black eye seemed to squint.

“Hmm? Did you guys hear something just now?” He asked innocently, pointedly looking at the stands furthest away from the biker. “I thought I did, but surely one of my darling students would take on a nicer tone before asking me something!”

Mondo took a decidedly _ not _nice tone in response to that condescending remark. “Are you… HEY! Don’t fuck with me, asshole! I’m asking you a goddamn question!”

“There’s that noise again! Did I leave one of the windows open?” The monochrome monster wondered aloud. 

Owada’s face exploded into indignant fury as the outlaw slammed a fist down on his podium with a mighty ** _thump_ **. Kaede tried to ignore the spike of fear that shot up her spine seeing Mondo’s fury, focusing on Monokuma to keep from triggering something that’d throw her off. “WAS THE PIECE A SHIT A FAKE OR NOT?!” He roared out. After a moment, he blinked, some of his rage seeming to taper off as he squeezed his fists and took a deep, bullish breath before settling for glaring daggers at their kidnapper.

Monokuma didn’t say anything for several moments as he simply tilted his head side to side as if he was trying to pinpoint a troublesome noise, Mondo’s enraged scowl slowly starting to return more and more with each second until Gonta held up a hand. “Um, Monokuma?”

The so-called captain turned to him without a second of hesitation. “Ah, yes, Mister Gokuhara?”

“Was sword real or fake whole time?”

Mondo stared at the two in mild disbelief. “Un-fuckin’-believable…” He muttered with a scowl, his outrage promptly ignored in favor of the discussion at hand.

Monokuma crossed his arms with a slight huff. “Geez, what kind of phony do you kids take me for? Of course, it was a one-hundred percent certified, Monokuma approved prize as real as you or me! I wouldn’t charge for nonexistent prizes!” He sidestepped flawlessly.

Kaede crossed her arms at the bear warningly. “That’s not what he asked and you know it! Stop messing with us already!”

“Messing with you? I’m not the one who made a big ol’ mess in one of my painstakingly created talent labs!”

Kaede felt her blood begin to boil, the ex-pianist ready to bark out another condemnation for the disgusting creature in front of her. Before she had the opportunity, though, a soft but firm voice asserted itself in the conversation. “... Monokuma, if you don’t tell us one way or the other, the trial isn’t going to go anywhere. That wouldn’t be very fun for you, would it?” Nanami pointed out, the small girl fearlessly gazing up at him.

Monokuma once again fell silent, but the stuffed animal lacked any of the mocking movement from earlier. His gaze was focused solely on Chiaki as he remained as still as the dead, unreadable thoughts swirling in the dark mind behind his cutesy design. At long last, in a voice lacking any of his usual mirth and showmanship, he muttered a confirmation. “... Hm. Alright. The sword from the casino was never an actual weapon, and there are no duplicates of it anywhere aboard the ship.”

Kaede’s eyes widened in shock. That… that worked? She couldn’t believe that Monokuma had actually given them a straight answer without any hint of trickery, yet clearly the threat of boredom was enough to spur him into playing nice for once. It was unnerving to hear him speak so calmly, the piercingly high notes of his ridiculous gameshow act almost seeming pleasant compared to the sinister unflappability he now embraced. 

The mutual surprise of the class didn’t last forever, though. “R-really? S-so i-it’s not the murder weapon?” Mikan asked, her voice full of intrigue and astonishment tinged with the hesitant fear that hung over the nurse like a cloud.

Just as quickly as it had disappeared, Monokuma’s trademark chipperness came back full force. “Yessiree! It’s just a fun prize for the dedicated anime geeks aboard to waste their time and money trying to collect, and boy did our late Yamada do a lot of that! In other words, it’s basically completely unrelated to the case at hand!”

“Wh- so all that was a waste of time?!” Leon sputtered out resentfully, balling his fists in front of him. 

“Corrrrect~!”

The baseball star looked like he was about to explode.“I-wh- no! That’s bullshit, man! Why didn’t you say something like half an hour ago if you knew this was pointless?!”

“Because it was still entertaining half an hour ago! Now, it’s getting a bit dull, so I’m giving you a hint so you can spice things up again. Now, unless you want to use up your precious few hours before voting time arguing with yours truly, you might want to start solving this mystery! Puhuhuhu!”

“For all these efforts to have been for naught… truly, you are a blight beyond words…” Gundham growled out with a sideways glare towards the robot.

It was definitely demoralizing to find out one of the key points of their arguments was a red herring the entire time. Regardless, Kaede refused to give up that easily. “Guys, we can’t get stuck on this! We have to keep things going if we’re ever going to solve this case!”

“Kaede is correct. As unfortunate as it is, this setback means we must try even harder than before to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.” Tojo steadfastly backed her up, soon followed by Kaito’s own gruff decree.

“Yeah! So stop sitting around crying about when you can use that energy to push forward! We’ve got this as long as everyone plays their part!”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I won’t cry!” Mikan shrilly apologized, flinching violently at Kaito’s exclamation as tears formed in her eyes despite her words. A sort of tired pity came over Kaede as she prepared to yet again tell Tsumiki that she didn’t have to apologize for things she didn’t do, but unfortunately, the trial steamed on ahead before she had the chance.

Celeste idly flicked her hair back, only the barest hint of aggravation slipping past her usual mask. “We cannot abide more idle chatter. Our time would be far better spent figuring out what exactly killed Hifumi if all of our theories thus far have been wrong.”

Chiaki pursed her lips, the gears practically visibly turning in her head. “Whatever they used, it’s something they were pretty careful about making sure no one noticed it was gone…”

“So what the hell did they take? It’s not like there’s a lotta shit you can take and stab a guy to death without people noticing.” Mondo pointed out.

Teruteru rubbed his chin. “Chiaki and Mikan already said it wasn’t anything in the kitchen, and if it wasn’t that sword either, I can’t think of anything that’d be able to stab a guy like a pork roast...”

Kaede let out a somewhat cross sigh. The bloodied shot put ball had made this part of the crime a non-issue, yet it was without a doubt one of the most confusing ones this go around. “Well, it had to be _ something _! They couldn’t have done what they did without some kind of weapon. There’s gotta be something we overlooked.”

Kaito reached up and scratched the back of his spiky hair. “Don’t get me wrong, I agree with ya. But we’ve been talking about the murder weapon for a while now, and we’re still not a whole lot closer to figuring out what it was. Maybe there was somewhere we didn’t look?”

“Impossible, I’m afraid. I’m certain that every possible room of interest was explored by myself or someone else at some point or another during this investigation. Were it as simple as an unexplored room, I’m confident Monokuma would have provided some sort of hint to maintain the fairness of the trial as he just did with the false sword.” Korekiyo dismissed with a shake of his head. An uncertain quiet enveloped the trial hall, no one quite sure what to say or do given the apparent dead end they’d run into despite their best efforts. Akamatsu looked around at her fellow blackened as a pit seemed to form in her stomach.

“... Does anyone have any ideas?” She finally asked, to another wall of silence. Just as the dread was truly starting to settle in, however, someone spoke up.

“Hmm… maybe we should try something else. We could put the murder weapon aside for a while and try figuring it out after we’ve looked at some of the other clues. That might help us understand what we aren’t getting... I think.” Chiaki suggested in a soft voice, her cotton candy-colored eyes slowly scanning across the courtroom.

Kirumi’s lips quirked downward, the maid slightly inclining her head. “I’m afraid we might not have any option _ but _ to do that. We’ve exhausted every possible avenue of discussion for the weapon… though this brings up the question of what exactly we move onto instead.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” Celeste said, slightly raising her voice to ensure everyone’s attention was on her. “Though it might seem rather self-evident, I cannot help but wonder about the crime scene. I believe addressing those concerns could be the most important step to understanding this murder.”

“I agree. There are a number of things I was thinking about myself. Perhaps solving those will help lessen the burden of the case at large.” Sakura said with a concurring nod. 

Gundham closed his eyes, arms crossed and lips thinned in thought. “Then if this is the path fate leads us towards, it would do us well to follow it. Very well! Let us begin!”

Kaede tried her best to keep a neutral face during this even as she felt herself begin to tense. _ “The crime scene… I have a feeling I know where this is going. Just keep it cool. I know I didn’t do this, and there’s enough proof to show that’s true. I just need to find the right time to present it…” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Celeste spoke up, her hands neatly folded in her lap as she directed her ruby eyes towards the blonde. “As previously stated, Hifumi’s body was **found in your lab,** correct, Kaede?”

Kaede cringed a little, but nodded. “Yeah. Kirumi and I were the first ones to find him.”

“Gonta kind of confused. Gonta thought **labs could lock**, but Hifumi got in somehow. Can Kaede’s not?” The entomologist asked, his red eyes sparked with somewhat hesitant curiosity.

Akamatsu rubbed her elbow, an odd sense of shame washing over her. “I didn’t bother to. I didn’t think anyone would use it for… this.”

“Erm… I’ll admit that I haven’t really thought about it until now, but that’s** plainly suspicious** , isn’t it?” Shirogane said uncertainly. “I mean, it’s not that I want to suspect you or anything, Kaede, b-but it’s not easy to overlook considering he was in your lab, and since **you were the first killer** last time…”

Kaito slammed a fist down on his podium with a furious glower. “Hey! What kinda bullcrap logic is that? This case is _ nothing like hers _ besides being the first!” He angrily roared out, the Ultimate Cosplayer flinching slightly at his wrath. 

“Hang on a sec! I agree with… uh, sorry, **what was your name**?” Leon asked the bluenette, who gave a small pout at already having been partly forgotten.

“Tsumugi-”

“Yeah! Tsumugi’s got a point!” He excitedly declared. His energy died off considerably as he turned to Kaede, but he continued nonetheless. “I mean… it doesn’t totally mean you’re the killer, but it still seems pretty important to me. Like, what the hell was he doing in there ** _when he got killed_ **, anyway? We can’t just ignore hella suspicious stuff like that!”

Kirumi looked at him with a touch of hardness entering her stoic features. “That’s not the same as evidence of guilt, Mister Kuwata. If I may be blunt, you should _take a more measured approach_ .”

** _BREAK!_ **

The contradiction was blindingly apparent to Kaede, who instantly latched onto it. “Actually, I think you’re on the right track, Leon. You’re just jumping the gun a little.”

Leon’s suspicious look quickly turned to bewilderment at her apparent support. Chiaki looked at her curiously from just behind the athlete as he asked a rather blunt question. “You… huh? What do you mean by that?”

Kaede held up a finger confidently as she met Kuwata’s gaze. “It _ is _pretty weird that Hifumi was in my lab… especially because we know for a fact that’s not where he died. Don’t we, Kiyo?”

The Ultimate Anthropologist waved a hand like a lecturing professor as he began to explain. “Indeed. Hifumi bled to death from his stab wounds, which necessitates all of that ichor to have gone somewhere. Given the pool of blood we discovered in Sakura’s lab, the true crime scene is rather apparent. It’s impossible for him to have died in Kaede’s lab.”

“Furthermore, were Kaede truly the killer, it would be exceptionally unintelligent of her to not only kill someone in her own lab, but leave his body there on top of it. If anything, we could tentatively consider that a point of evidence in favor of her innocence considering the sheer incompetence it would require.” Celeste added with a neutral expression.

Kaede couldn’t help the slight furrowing of her brow. Ludenberg’s point was logical and the defense was certainly welcome… but what did _ she _ get out of it? Perhaps her suspicion was just another mark of her many failings, but if there was one thing she knew for certain about the Ultimate Gambler, it was that she always had an idea for how to make things go in her favor. _ “Is she genuinely being helpful, or is she planning something...?” _

Regardless of her own suspicions, there was a much more notable reaction to the exchange in the form of Sakura. The Ultimate Martial Artist stared at Shinguji in clear shock, her silver eyes wide with disbelief. “Hold on. You discovered blood in my lab? Where?”

“We found a large pool of blood in the archery range hidden under some shifted gravel. Presumably, this was the killer’s doing.” Peko clarified. 

The blonde leader nodded confirmingly. “Whoever did it wanted to cover up their tracks, at least for a little while, so-”

“**Your stance is weak**.”

Akamatsu was so thrown off by the sudden, blunt refusal that she could only blink in surprise at Sakura. Ogami’s jaw formed a steely line, confusion hardened by disbelief warping her usually measured expression. “H-huh? Sakura?”

“There’s no explanation for how he could have died there. Of that, I’m certain.” She decreed, her voice firm and unwaveringly.

Kaede frowned at her with a questioning look. “He couldn't have...? But Kaito and I saw the blood, too. It was definitely there.”

Sakura shook her head once again. “That is something I don’t know about, but I am certain we both know why that cannot be the case, and why your argument is critically weak.”

_ **CROSSBLADE DEBATE! ** _

“You say that Hifumi was killed in my lab…

but there is no way that could have happened.

I cannot say for certain whose blood was in my lab,

or how it might have gotten there,

yet it is beyond question that he could not have died there.

You should know exactly why that’s the case, Kaede.”

** _ADVANCE!_ **

Kaede threw a hand out to the side as she spoke, brow furrowed in doubt.

“You keep saying that, Sakura,

but you aren’t explaining why.

I don’t want to doubt you, but you aren’t making much sense!

Please, if you have proof, just tell us why it’s so impossible!”

Sakura bowed her head slightly with a hum.

“I assumed the reasoning was obvious, but it seems I was mistaken.

The proof of why he couldn’t have been killed in my lab

is our meeting this morning. When I finished my meditating,

I left and locked the entrances behind me.

I do this **_every time I leave my lab_**, and it stays that way until I return...

so it would be impossible for him or the killer to enter without my knowledge.”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede couldn’t hold back the disappointed frown that spread across her features. “Sakura… why did you lie just now?”

Though there was certainly a flash of offended anger in her gaze, Sakura managed to keep a relatively level tone as she spoke. “... What exactly did I lie about?”

“You said you lock both doors to your lab every time you leave… but I know for a fact that at least one person’s been to your lab without you unlocking it,” The ex-pianist pressed, crossing her arms in dismay. “Right, Peko?”

The silver-haired warrior nodded, her lips thinned and reddish eyes narrowed in a mix of suspicion and slight reluctance. “Yes. You said the doors are always locked, but I was able to access your lab without any problems whenever I wanted. The side entrance has never been locked… including when I went there last night.”

“You told me you went to your lab around nine-twenty last night, Sakura, but Peko says she was using the dojo almost a full hour beforehand. And even if she wasn’t telling the truth about that, it wouldn’t explain why the rest of us were able to go in there to investigate when Monokuma never mentioned unlocking the doors-”

“Which, by the way, I didn’t!” The bear oh-so-helpfully called out from his throne.

“-So that still means that what you said about the doors isn’t true,” Kaede finished almost lamentfully. She _ hated _the air of doubt that settled over the room following her words, a thick tension descending upon them like a cloud as Sakura was both metaphorically and literally brought into the spotlight of suspicion. It felt wrong and ugly, but there was little choice in the matter. Giving the muscular woman a pleading look, Kaede repeated her question. “Given all that, Sakura… why did you lie about it?”

Despite being called out on her lie, however, there was no sign of the unique nervous energy of an exposed liar like she’d felt at her own trial in Sakura’s body language. Instead, the only clear reaction she had was complete bewilderment, her eyebrows knitting together in uncertainty. “I… do not know what to say. I cannot explain this contradiction, but I swear on my honor as an Ogami that I’m not trying to decieve you. I’ve always enabled the lock after stepping out of my lab.”

“But can you produce evidence to back this claim? Anything can be claimed to be reality, but there is a fine line separating it and the realm of fiction.” Gundham countered, his rumbling baritone challenging the suspect.

“And I’m sure you can see where our suspicions will go next if you are indeed lying…” Celeste added with a perfectly blank expression.

Pekoyama folded her arms, her gaze sharp but not unempathetic. “But if you _ are _ telling the truth, there’s bound to be evidence that supports it. We simply have to find out what it is.”

Kaede nodded in assent. “I really want to be wrong about this, so whatever you come up with, I’m willing to hear you out.”

Sakura’s surprise gave way to gratefulness, twitching a phantom of a smile before she closed her eyes in thought. “I see. In that case…” She trailed off, silent thoughts forming together just below the surface. After a few moments, a single eye slid open, determination glinting in the silver orb. “... I have a theory.”

“Let’s hear it! The more people we can prove innocent, the better!” Kaito encouraged with a grin. The fighter didn’t quite share his enthusiasm, but did as he said.

“There is the possibility that I made a faulty assumption. Until now, I thought both entrances to my lab were controlled by the same lock. However, if the other door was open despite locking the main door as I left, then perhaps each door **has their own lock**.”

Shirogane let out a small hum. “Hmm… that would make things pretty simple, but it doesn’t seem like an easy thing to prove…”

Kaede crossed her arms, tapping her finger against her elbow in consideration. “I think there was a scanner by the door, but that could still work if both doors were connected…” She reluctantly noted, her lips thinning. She _ did _want to believe her, and the theory sounded decently plausible. The only problem was that she couldn’t think of anything that could prove it, but… “Hang on!” She suddenly blurted out as realization struck her like a thunderbolt. “I think I know how to prove it! Just a few minutes ago, Monokuma said he didn’t unlock either of the doors to Sakura’s lab for the investigation. However, while the side door was open, the main door was still locked like Sakura said she did. If Monokuma didn’t mess with the doors, then that must mean she’s telling the truth, and each one works independently!”

“Which means Miss Ogami could have locked one door mistakenly thinking it sealed both while unwittingly allowing people to come and go as they please,” Kirumi summed up, holding up a hand demonstratively. “And thus, consciously or not, the killer took advantage of this when they murdered Mister Yamada.”

“S-so both Kaede and Sakura are right? H-Hifumi died in Sakura’s lab, and th-the lock made it seem impossible despite that?” Mikan sought to confirm.

Chiaki nodded gravely. “I think that’s right. That’d explain why all the blood was there, and why it didn’t seem like an option at first. That leaves figuring out how he ended up in Kaede’s lab if he died there, but it’s a start, at least.”

Sakura’s features darkened, her eyes seeming to become black voids of simmering rage. “Then it’s true… whoever did this took a life in a dojo marked with _ my family’s crest _ , and managed to hide their crime when I was _ right there _…” She all but growled, the sound of her cracking knuckles ringing out like the click of a gun’s hammer being pulled back. A fierce energy radiated from the martial artist, Kaede subconsciously leaning as far away from her as she could at her podium as she could practically see the rage warp the air around Sakura’s body. “... Damn! I cannot forgive this! I swear on my family’s honor that the culprit will pay dearly for this crime. I refuse to simply sit by and abide such an immortal disgrace!”

“Damn straight! We’ve gotta give it our all to find this guy!” Kaito agreed in a burst of passion, his mouth formed into an intense snarl of determination and a fist to flung to the side as his coat fluttered out behind him like a cape. “And to do that, we’re gonna solve these mysteries one by one, starting with how the body ended up in Kaede’s lab!”

Chiaki once again reasserted herself, Kaede unable to help but notice how the petite girl was becoming more and more proactive as the trial went on. “Yeah. Figuring out how the killer moved the body seems like the next logical step here. In fact, it might even give us an idea of why Kaede’s lab was chosen in particular… maybe.”

_ “Why my lab was chosen… if my theory’s right, then I already know the answer to that. I can’t tell whether it’s worse being right or wrong… but there’s no option but to face the truth head on either way. At least this is one part of the case I’m positive I have figured out already. No use putting it off…” _Akamatsu thought to herself as she prepared for yet another round of debate. “Alright, everyone! Whatever theories you have, put them forward, and we’ll work it out together. I’ll get us started...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that wraps up the first bit of the trial! It was a bit of a style shift to go into this, so I hope it came off well! Also hope you liked the elevator and trial art, which comes from yours truly. Credit to u/OmegaT6 on the DR subreddit for making the template used here! I'd also like to send a big shoutout to the Anon that generously made fanart of Hifumi's body discovery; it looks super cool!
> 
> As a note, the next chapter might take a little longer as we once again approach finals season for my classes, but we're hoping to keep up the pace regardless. See you all next time!  
-MrCynical


	14. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Trial Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the trial continues, Kaede struggles to balance the search for truth and her own veil of lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rolling right along through finals and pandemics, we're coming at ya with another part of the trial! This is one I've been looking forward to since the start of this story, so I hope it's as cool to read as it was to write!
> 
> -MrCynical

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Kaede folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes as she began. “So, we know that after Hifumi died in Sakura’s lab, the killer must have used something to move his body across the hall into my lab, but what was it?”

Gonta held up a hand. "Oh, Gonta think Gonta know this one! This have to do with_ lift Kirumi and Chiaki found, _ right?"

"I'm not so sure. There was blood on it, but it **couldn't move at all **when there was more than three-hundred pounds on it…" Chiaki pointed out with a small frown.

Kirumi gave a nod. “I believe it’s an automated safety feature to keep the lift from being damaged. Otherwise, the **device could break **when trying to move above its capacity.”

“So we can assume whatever was used didn’t have the same restrictions…” Peko noted.

"Maybe they just _ picked him up _ , and that blood is from ** something else**?" Teruteru offered, earning a scowl and scoff from Kuwata.

“Seriously, man? Don’t be stupid! There’s _ no way that thing wasn’t involved _!”

Gundham crossed his arms with humph. “Then how precisely was it used if it could not carry the body?”

“Er…” Leon droned, seemingly not expecting to actually have to explain it. After a series of somewhat exasperated noises, he ran his hand through the messy spikes of his hair with a frown. “... I dunno, but that blood’s** gotta mean something**!”

Tojo cupped her chin with a gloved hand. “Perhaps the lift was used to help put Hifumi’s body into ** _something else that could carry him_ **?”

** _CONSENT!_ **

Kaede’s eyes snapped open as it finally clicked with her. “I think you’re completely right, Kirumi. In fact, I think we even know what it was used with!”

“W-we do? I-I’m sorry for wasting your time, b-but I really don’t know what you mean…” Mikan whimpered, her eyes prickling with tears.

“Gonta also confused. Is there something else we find that could carry people that Gonta not know about?” The entomologist asked, tilting his massive head to the side like a puppy.

Kaede turned to face Gundham, a smile coming to her as she spoke. “It’s alright, guys. I’ll explain. While we were looking around in Sakura’s lab, we ended up finding a ball cart that was missing one side of it. I think that might have been how the killer carried the body.”

“Hang on. If the thing was missin’ an entire side of it, how’d it manage to keep the fatass from fallin’ out of it?” Mondo gruffly questioned, one eyebrow hitched up doubtfully.

Kaede shook her head. “It couldn’t… if it was always broken. If it broke _ because _of him, then it’s possible they could have moved his body before the side broke off.”

Comprehension and intrigue gleamed in Tojo’s eyes as she spoke up. “I believe I know where you’re going with this. You believe the metal grate we found under the piano is the missing side to the ball cart, correct?” The maid predicted. Kaede gave a firm nod.

“That’s right. I have an idea of why that broke off, too. You mentioned that the stage lift automatically locked its wheels if the weight limit was exceeded, but this is just a regular ball cart you’d find in any gym. If something too heavy -like Hifumi’s body- was put in there, it would probably be hard to move, but wouldn’t be able to protect itself like the lift could.” Akamatsu explained confidently. It felt oddly satisfying to figure it all out, despite the grim knowledge of just how serious their situation was scolding her for it.

Kaito’s fists slammed together like a gavel as the astronaut added onto the theory.“I get it! So with all the pressure Hifumi’s body was putting on it, the hinges of the thing must’ve just snapped off!”

Mikan cringed, unable to meet anyone’s eyes as her painfully worried and high-strung voice whimpered out a meek objection. “U-um… a-are you sure about that? N-not that you’re wrong! I’m sorry! B-but…”

Kaede looked at her in a mix of curiosity and reassurance. “Is there something on your mind, Mikan? If we’re getting something wrong, don’t be afraid to point it out. The only way we can find the truth is if we’re willing to confront each other’s ideas.”

Tsumiki glanced at her only for their eyes to lock, Mikan completely unable to look away once she’d made contact. The nurse seemed to search the blonde’s soul for a short eternity, the ex-pianist gave her an encouraging nod, hoping the silent message that it really was okay would ring true for the miserably shy girl. At last, the lavender-haired girl took a shaky breath and dared to contradict Kaito. “... If Hifumi just laying there was too much pressure, th-then shouldn’t all of the sides have broken? A-and shouldn’t there have been some blood left in it?”

“Oh… that’s a good point, actually. If there was blood on the lift, there plainly should have been something on the cart too, right?” Tsumugi hummed, rubbing her cheek with a slightly disappointed expression.

“Actually, I got an idea for that!” Momota confidently called out before Kaede could even ruminate on a response. “There’s totally something that coulda kept any blood from getting on the cart when they put the body in! Right, Kaede?”

Akamatsu blinked in surprise. “Huh? Something that could have kept the blood off…?” She muttered, momentarily lost, until their discovery in Kirumi’s lab came rushing back to her. “Oh! I get it! The tablecloth!”

Mondo rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, now that you mention it… if the killer put it over the thing first, it totally coulda soaked up the blood!” The biker agreed, realization lighting up his features.

Tojo looked between the three puzzlingly. “Tablecloth…? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Kaede decided to take on the task of explaining. “During the investigation, we ended up stopping by your lab, and we found a bloodstained tablecloth shoved into one of the washing machines. I think the killer tried to wash it, but they couldn’t get it to come out, so they just tried hiding in there. Teruteru saw it too.”

The portly cook had noticeably stiffened a little, but he offered a nod all the same. “It’s true. Either someone was making a real mess with some spoilt marinara, or… well… someone made a real mess out of Hifumi...” He attempted to joke, though he cringed at his own comment before he even finished saying it. 

Kirumi bowed her head, a deep frown cutting across her usually measured expression. “I see… so my lab was also used to cover up the crime. It truly disheartens me to know someone sought to use my talent against us all. However… to avoid any accusations, I also left my lab unlocked. There was nothing dangerous within, so it seemed unnecessary at the time. Clearly, this was a mistake on my part.” Kirumi established in advance, her visible eye roving over the trial room with a small frown.

Sakura let out a low, thoughtful rumble. “That would certainly explain the lack of blood on the cart, but that doesn’t explain why only one part of it would have been damaged that badly if Hifumi’s weight was the cause. Is there a solution for that?” She asked genuinely.

Kaito blinked, his lips thinning as he knit his brow. “... W-well… there’s gotta be something to prove it! Right, Kaede?”

The blonde thinned her lips, grasping at her elbow uncertainly. “I definitely think the ball cart was used here, but I don’t know what the answer would be to that... unless we’re going down the wrong track,” She corrected less confidently than she wished she could be. “If it was just because of his weight, then they’re right; all the sides should have broken. So, something else must have happened to break it off, or at least make it weak enough that Hifumi could have.”

“I agree. The grate seems too important to just rule out, so we should try coming up with ideas of how it happened. That way, we’ll be a little bit closer to the truth… I think.” Chiaki backed her up readily.

“Then let us solve this mystery as well. I shall begin this time.” Korekiyo agreed, seemingly setting the stage for the next debate.

Kaede briefly glanced towards the gamer appreciatively, though with a hint of internal skepticism. The gamer was being helpful without a doubt, and she was definitely less immediately troublesome than Celeste, but the musician still couldn’t shake a slightly strange feeling about her. After all, she’d gone from basically a passive observer over the past several days to one of the spearheads of their efforts seemingly at the flick of a switch without much indication of what exactly had clicked for her. _ “... She definitely knows some things I don’t, and not just for this case. If- _ ** _when _ ** _ we get out of here, I really need to talk to her and figure out what exactly is going on…” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Korekiyo lightly waggled a finger as he spoke. “If Hifumi’s body was indeed carried in the ball cart, then finding out what caused the panel to snap off is imperative. We cannot simply assume it was **mere bad luck **on the killer’s part.”

Leon let out a quiet scoff and muttered under his breath. “Bad luck… tch. _ Seems reasonable to me _…”

“Um, I think I have an idea! If he got rolled into it from the lift, maybe he _ hit that side _when he was falling in and weakened it?” Tsumugi piped up with a hint of enthusiasm. 

Sakura shook her head. “But if that was the case, shouldn’t it have **broken in my lab**, or perhaps the hallway?”

“Then perhaps it truly was bad luck, and the culprit had **run afoul of Bishamonten**!” Tanaka boomed out dramatically.

“Must you scream all the time?!” Celeste hissed out with a poorly hidden cringe.

Kirumi looked on at them with barely hidden disappointment. “If I may be blunt, I ask that we focus only on plausible answers.”

“Maybe we already have something that can prove it,” Chiaki proposed, a certain knowing gleam in her gaze. “I think we can figure out why if we look at ** _Hifumi’s body itself_ **.”

** _CONSENT!_ **

Kaede rose a finger somewhat hesitantly as she spoke. “Hifumi’s body…? Do you think there’s something in the pictures of the crime scene that could give it away, Chiaki?”

Nanami nodded. “I don’t know for sure, but I have a hunch. Monokuma, do you have any way of showing these pictures to everyone at once?” The gamer asked the bear as she raised her game device in the air, their captor letting out a jovial cry in response.

“Ah, don’t mind if I do! I’ve been waiting for a chance to test these suckers out! Alrighty, let’s give it a go!” Monokuma all but cackled, tapping an unseen button on the armrest of his throne. In an instant, four massive monitors the size of movie theater screens dropped down from the ceiling, one in each direction so that every student could have an unobstructed view of at least one TV set. Similarly, a robotic cable ending in a phone jack of some sort unfurled from above all the way down to where the Ultimate Gamer was standing. Initially blinking in surprise at it, Chiaki shrugged, reaching over and plugging it into the machine moments before the screens exploded into the bloodstained colors of the Ultimate Pianist’s lab.

Kaede instantly felt her stomach twist at the gruesome scene she’d had the misfortune of seeing in the flesh mere hours prior. Hifumi’s mutilated body was only slightly less horrifying in picture form than it was face to face, some indescribable disconnect between the two making it just barely tolerable enough to look at without feeling like she was going to vomit. Some of the others that hadn’t seen the corpse yet reacted significantly worse, with Tsumugi, Leon, and Teruteru in particular looking like they could faint at any moment. Even Mondo looked disgusted, his eyes widened in shock and a small grimace overtaking his usual rough expression. Sucking in a breath, Kaede shook her head and turned to the girl who took those pictures to begin with. “A-alright, Chiaki… what exactly should we be looking for here?”

“Do you see how Hifumi is slumped over the keyboard here?” Nanami pointed out, getting questioning looks from nearly everyone present.

“I should say it’s rather difficult not to notice…” Korekiyo dryly noted, voicing aloud the thoughts of his fellow blackened. The pink-haired girl frowned slightly, but elaborated.

“That’s the point. He’s slumped over the piano… so how did he end up like that? To pose him like that, someone got him out of the cart somehow. Maybe it happened while the killer was moving the body into place.”

Kaito pulled at his goatee a little. “I get what you’re saying. Whatever the killer did to get him out of the cart must’ve put enough pressure on the thing to make it snap, right?”

“Yep. Does that make sense to everyone?” Chiaki checked, with only one indirect objection in response.

“It certainly flows logically, but is there any solid proof to help secure this theory? Working on logic alone can only take us so far, I’m afraid.” Shinguji pointed out, looking more interested than particularly opposed to the idea. 

Kaede folded her arms over as she thought back to the crime scene for anything that could be used as a definitive link. There wasn’t anything that served as a smoking gun or anything of the sort, but mulling over her options, enough minor evidence seemed to pile up that she felt fairly confident she could convince the others. “I don’t know what exactly you’re looking for, Kiyo, but I think I can make a case for it. Chiaki, do you have any pictures of the scratch marks on the floor?” The blonde asked, and with a nod from the girl in question, the screens soon changed to a picture highlighting the grooves and cuts leading up to the base of the piano. Kaede pointed to the screen directly across from her for the sake of convenience, hoping the others would follow along well enough. “If you look closely, you can see the marks start about four feet away from Hifumi’s body, and they start getting really noticable the closer it gets to the piano itself. Try to think about how his body would have been in the cart. His feet would probably either be pressing against that side of the cart from inside or hung over it from above, right?”

“Indeed. I can picture it perfectly with the All-Seeing Eye. We can also assume the side that broke off was the ramp, for the other sides stood rigid and firm.” Gundham added, somewhat confirming what Kaede had already expected.

“Mhmm! Now, given that Hifumi was… pretty large, they probably would have needed a bit of space to figure out how exactly they’d get him over the keys. So... if the killer tried putting down the ramp a few feet away from where they wanted to dump him, and then tried pushing him forward and out from behind, there’s a good chance the cart would go forward with him because they probably wouldn’t be able to push him and hold the cart still at the same time.”

Peko jumped in, apparently having caught on to where Kaede was going with all this. “I see… so while they were trying to move his body, he was likely putting much more weight and pressure on the ramp than any other side of the cart. When they finally succeeded at shoving him forward, the sudden jerking combined with the pressure caused the ramp to snap off beneath Hifumi, resulting in the grate you discovered. Am I correct?” The swordswoman theorized aloud, earning a sharp nod from Akamatsu.

“Exactly what I was thinking!”

Chiaki decided to add onto their deductions, tugging on the straps of her backpack as she spoke. “I think there’s something else that helps prove it, too. At this point, the killer got what they wanted with Hifumi hunched over the piano bench and keys, but they also had to deal with the broken ramp. If I had to guess, it probably ended up halfway on the platform with the piano with the back half still on the floor, and the worst marks here by the platform happened when they tried pushing it up to hide it under the piano.”

Tojo raised a finger sharply. “Given our experiment, I feel confident that this is exactly what happened.”

“Experiment? What do you mean?” Tsumugi piped up curiously. 

Kaito took on the burden of explaining that. “We tried messing around with the grate to see how the killer coulda moved it around. The thing’s heavy as hell, so we couldn’t really pick it up. Kicking it around worked, but scratched the floor pretty bad.”

“I see… my curiosity is satisfied, then,” Korekiyo conceded, running his fingers along the brim of his hat. “I believe we’re now all in agreement; the ball cart was indeed used to transport the body. There are some questions I have about the exact details, but those can be put aside for now. We’ve solved where he died and how he found his way to the lab. So… where should we go from there?”

Gokuhara crossed his powerful arms, a somewhat dismayed look on his face as he glanced off to the side. “There something Gonta not really understand. If culprit have such hard time with getting Hifumi’s body into right place, then why did killer do it at all? Is having body in Kaede’s lab important enough for so many clues to happen?

Celeste let out a slightly dismissive hum. “Isn’t that self-evident? The killer must have wanted to distract us with where the body was found away from the actual core of the mystery. It wouldn’t shock me if they intended on framing Kaede as well, as frail a line of defense as that is. They certainly decided to be rather dramatic with it, at any rate.”

The Ultimate Maid shook her head slightly. “Mister Gokuhara raises a valid point, however; we know for certain that at least three Ultimate Labs were unlocked at the time of the murder. Given the options of leaving it in Miss Ogami’s lab, putting the time and effort into making such a scene of Kaede’s, or depositing it in my own, why was hers chosen? There must have been a significant reason for this grotesque display.”

“I’m inclined to agree. Though my murders were rather dramatic in their own right, there was a practical application to each and every theatric I engaged in. This strikes me as somewhat of a side detail to the crime, but it could very well be an important factor to consider in its own right.” Korekiyo agreed, Kaede trying her best to not think about what exactly he meant by that.

Chiaki seemed to have a bit of a sharper idea on what the exact cause could have been. “I think it might be as simple as Celeste said. They could have done almost anyone’s lab if they wanted to, but if they left it in Sakura’s lab, she or Peko would have found it a lot sooner than they probably wanted. Same for the casino. So, between Kirumi and Kaede’s lab, they probably figured they could cause a bigger distraction there than anywhere else. Sometimes the culprit is banking on the scene being shocking enough for people to overlook evidence…” The gamer argued, and despite Nanami not so much as glancing in the general direction, Kaede could see Mikan violently flinch at the words in the corner of her vision.

Akamatsu had to stifle a worried frown. _ “There’s no way my lab was chosen on accident or over something as simple as that. Whoever did this had to have done it knowing about Mondo and I… let’s just hope I never have to prove that part of it…” _

Teruteru clicked his tongue, messing with his hair as he proposed a different line of thought.

“Er, maybe I’m overthinking things here, but there’s still something that smells fishy here. Believe me, I've been in enough freezers and French ladies to know that smell well-” He cracked with a smug grin that only partly faltered under the immediate harsh glares of nearly everyone in the room, though he seemed especially eager to avoid Kaede and Sakura’s deadly looks. Faking a cough, he shook his head. “A-anyways, whatever they did it for, if the killer went through all that trouble playing around with Hifumi’s body, why didn’t they bother taking that grate with them instead of just leaving it there for anyone to find? I mean, it seems like a pretty big thing to overlook.”

Kaede quirked her lips at that. “Well, like Kaito said, it was pretty heavy. They probably couldn’t pick it up, so they just went for the next best thing they could manage.”

“True, but -pardon me for swiping at the dead here- Hifumi wasn’t exactly a feather himself, either. Sure, we know they moved him with the ball cart, but that’s still a lot of weight to try man-handling. Wouldn’t that mean whoever did him in was a rather succulent specimen themself?”

_ “That would explain some of the stranger aspects of the case, but…” _Kaede thought back to one particular discovery in Sakura’s lab that proved otherwise… yet hesitated. She knew that what Teruteru was asserting had to be wrong, but if she brought up the evidence that confirmed it, there would be no escaping the line of thought that followed. If she was lucky, maybe she’d be able to redirect it easily enough, but what she was about to do was definitely a gamble she wasn’t very comfortable with. Racking her brain as much as she could, however, there simply wasn’t any other proof that could back what she knew was the truth, nor any lie that could steer them away from that falsehood. Sucking down her bubbling worry with as much courage as she could muster, she went for the leap of faith that could easily turn into a downward spiral. “... We can’t say that for sure. The dumbbells in Sakura’s lab tell a different story, right, Peko?”

The silver-haired warrior gave a sharp nod of confirmation as she corroborated the ex-Ultimate Pianist’s claim. “Agreed. While the weights in the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab are supposed to be arranged in order of magnitude with their individual weight shown at the top, when we found them, numerous sets were in the wrong places, their positions randomly swapped around and carelessly shoved into place. That clearly marks someone’s involvement besides myself or Sakura on its own, but the truly notable detail is that all of the affected weights had something in common: they were all **under forty pounds**.”

“Less than forty pounds? That hardly seems fit for a beginner…” Sakura mused, an eyebrow quirked with what almost looked to be skepticism. 

“Hardly fit for- dude, that’s friggin’ heavy! How can you say that with a straight face?!” Leon sputtered out a bit indignantly. Celeste let out a distant cousin to a giggle.

“He said to one of the self-proclaimed strongest people in the world. Yes, Leon, how could that possibly be the case?”

The red-haired athlete had a flash of anger across his features that quickly gave way to a disheartened look as he crossed his arms with a pout. “I- whatever, man, just lay off already…”

“A bunch of weights belonging to someone named Sakura being important…? I feel like I’ve seen this in something else before…” Tsumugi muttered to herself with a contemplative expression. Kaede could only stare at her, silently wondering where on earth she could have seen a set of circumstances _ that _ specific anywhere else. Fortunately, the blonde didn’t have long to ponder the question.

“If we may return to the matter at hand,” Kirumi butted in a touch forcefully, though she kept her polite tone as much as possible. “What Miss Pekoyama just said seems rather important to me. If they were all below a certain threshold, then it’s not unreasonable to believe that must be the maximum weight the culprit could move with any degree of proficiency. Taking that into account, along with our own testing, it’s highly plausible that the killer was physically too weak to move the broken ramp beyond simply kicking it out of view. Troublesome as it was for them, they simply had no other option. Were they strong enough to handle the grate with ease, they likely wouldn’t have needed to bother with the cart or lift to begin with,” Tojo explained quickly and confidently, her emerald eye alight with the determination that comes with absolute certainty. Holding out the palm of her hand as if she could show it to them right then and there, she concluded her deductions. “In short, the killer was almost certainly someone with **average or lesser strength**.”

“So the perpetrator of this foul crime has little power even by mortal standards? Hmph. It seems their cunning and cruelty more than make up for their pathetic strength, then!” Gundham scoffed, his eyes narrowing as if the culprit would suddenly be revealed by his dark glare.

On the complete other side of the spectrum, Gonta put his giant hands on his hips as he flashed a bright smile. “Ah! Gonta see! Congratulations to all strong people for not being killer!”

“That’s really not something you should congratulate people on…” Leon grumbled.

Ignoring their banter and moving to redirect the conversation while she still could, Kaede spoke up. “So that’s why they left the grate behind, Teruteru. In fact, I have a theory about what happened. After all the trouble they had moving Hifumi’s body in the first place, and then… doing what they did to his head… they probably didn’t have the energy to deal with the ramp even if they were strong enough to pick it up. If I had to guess, once they were done in my lab, they probably went to Kirumi’s lab to try and wash out the bloody tablecloth, but gave up when it was clear it wouldn’t work,” The blonde explained, one finger held up like a lecturing professor as she talked through her own thoughts and guesses. “Instead, they focused on getting the cart back to Sakura’s lab and trying to make it as unassuming as possible by pressing it up against the wall and filling it with all the balls they had to take out earlier. It left a lot more evidence than I’m guessing they would have liked, but seeing as how they didn’t have any other option-”

“Are you sure of that?” Peko’s words suddenly sliced through the air, cutting off Kaede’s explanation like a crack of thunder on a peaceful night. Akamatsu instantly fell quiet, stunned into silence by the sudden interruption as the swordswoman’s gaze bore into her. Before she had an opportunity to so much as ask, Pekoyama exposed a hole Kaede had never even considered for this case. “While I said we couldn’t simply assume the killer was someone strong, you have all taken that in the wrong way. Simply because one assumption about the killer is false doesn’t mean the opposite must be true. We cannot rule out anyone as a killer just yet… **or as an accomplice**.”

That single word flipped Kaede’s entire world on its head. Her blood ran cold in her veins, her pupils turning to the size of pinpricks as an involuntary gasp escaped her. “A-accomplice...?” She barely managed to get out, so taken aback by the concept that she could hardly believe what she’d heard.

“Y-y-you think someone e-else might be helping the killer?!” Mikan shrieked out in alarm. The shocked and paling faces of many of their fellow blackened around the room made it clear that the sentiment of horror was mutual. A general mumble of dismay rumbled through the courtroom as they worriedly bounced the idea around.

Peko lowered her head grimly. “I have decided that it’s something we have to at least consider given some of the evidence we discovered.”

“An accomplice… I must admit, I hadn’t considered such a thing until now, but I am intrigued. Might we hear your reasoning for your claims?” An inquisitive Celeste probed with a glint in her eye. 

Pekoyama was willing to oblige as she folded her arms across each other and instantly commanded the attention of the room. “While there is nothing that proves it for certain, there is something about the dumbbells in Sakura’s lab that made me consider the possibility that it could have been someone stronger, and Teruteru’s comments on handling the body readdressed them. I suspected that the killer must have been relatively weak when we first found the weights, but the more I think about it, it’s just as plausible that someone **intentionally **left these clues behind to dissuade us from suspecting the more capable among us. They certainly could handle Hifumi’s girth easier than a less trained individual. Likewise, it could also have been done specifically to cast doubt on someone with lesser strength.”

Leon rubbed at his head with a bit of nervousness leaking through his slight look of annoyance. “I mean, that makes sense and all, but we wanna know what you’re talking about with that accomplice stuff. Did someone seriously help out with this psycho crap?”

The warrior’s face seemed to darken slightly, her lips drawing into a tense line. “I’m aware this sounds… flimsy, but there was **one particular detail **in Sakura’s lab that stood out to me: the different dumbbell mixed in with the others,” She revealed, and Kaede instantly felt her stomach drop. It took every fiber of Kaede’s being to keep a straight face amidst the rising well of dread that churned in her as Peko continued. “Along with the other dumbbells that were tampered with in the gym, there was one that had a different design from the others. Along with that, it was coated in drywall. Right outside of the lab, there was a dent in the wall almost the exact size of the out of place dumbbell.”

Mikan fretfully wrung her hands, a wince already crossing her features before she even raised her question. “U-um… I-I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, b-but how exactly does that prove someone was working with the killer?”

If Peko did consider it foolish, she called no attention to that as she answered. “If the killer was able to stab him without making the murder weapon obvious, they had to have had it ready before hand. There would have been no need for them to attack with the dumbbell… unless they weren’t the only one attacking Hifumi at the time.”

“Ah, I believe I understand what you’re implying. You believe he was being targeted by multiple people when he met his demise and the dumbbell was the weapon of choice for our mysterious third party, correct?” Ludenberg deduced, her face almost completely blank.

“Yes. If what I imagine happened is correct, Hifumi could have been attacked somewhere else on the second deck and attempted to flee. As he got to Sakura’s lab, the accomplice could have been stationed there to ensure he couldn’t escape, and made their own attempt against him. He avoided the swing of the dumbbell by going into Sakura’s lab, causing the dent in the wall and unknowingly trapping himself between a locked door, the killer, and their accomplice. 

Kaito slammed his fists together with a loud _ crack _. “Hang on! There’s no way anyone would willingly go along with something like that! Even if you don’t believe in everyone enough to think that, only the killer gets to leave if we vote wrong, right? There’s no way someone would go through all that effort just to end up dying with everyone else!”

“Your accomplice theory also contradicts some of what we deduced about the cart. If they had a partner, surely removing Hifumi’s body would have been less of an ordeal…” Kiyo pointed out with an even tone.

Tsumugi raised a finger up, her greenish blue eyes wide with speculation. “But it would explain a lot of other things about the murder, too. Plus, we don’t know how long the two were working together, so maybe the killer didn’t help out with the body?”

“Or someone else mighta fucked around with it after…” Mondo let out in a slight growl, a dark look settling in his eyes.

Peko closed her eyes with a restrained frown. “I’m aware that it is an imperfect theory, but the possibility is too important to ignore.”

Kaede’s cheek felt raw from how tightly she was biting it in an attempt to not let what she was feeling show through. She knew it was wrong, of course. She could point out every last incorrect detail and mistake in their claims without a hint of uncertainty. The problem was that there was no way she could do that without revealing her own brush with death the night prior, and that was the absolute _ last _thing she wanted to do now or ever. If she didn’t want to expose Mondo and get the trial railroaded to his false conviction, she’d have to play along with a theory she knew for a fact was incorrect and risk running out of time to solve the mystery… Akamatsu tensed her fists behind the podium, silently damning the situation she found herself trapped in. “H-hold on, everyone! I… can’t rule out what Peko said just yet,” She lied, the deceit tasting like broken glass as it left her mouth. She shook her head both to clear her own thoughts and to transition to the point she would much rather focus on for a while so she could brainstorm a way around the swordswoman’s theories. “But we won’t get anywhere arguing in circles about whether it happened or not. Whether something like that really was going on or the killer acted alone, the best chance we have of figuring it out is looking at where everyone was last night and going from there. The sooner we get that settled, the sooner we can get to the bottom of all this!”

“That’s probably for the best. Getting an idea of where everyone was might even help clear up when exactly certain bits of the murder happened, if we’re lucky.” Chiaki agreed with something akin to a small smile, though it was clearly restricted by the grim subject matter at hand.

Celeste casually clicked a bit of hair to the side. “I believe it would be pertinent to set a baseline of information that we use to compare each alibi with. If they are as similar as I expect, it would be easier to search for something distinctly out of place than chase every herring in the trees.”

Kirumi folded her hands and closed her eyes. “Then, if I may, I will give a basic explanation of where everyone was to the best of my knowledge, and the individuals in question can fill in the details as need be. Shall we begin?”

Akamatsu nodded, but didn’t say a word, too focused on her own thoughts to bother with anything beyond what was needed. _ “Alright… I managed to hear most of their alibis during the investigation, but not everyone, and not at the same time. If anything’s out of place or someone changes their story, it should be fairly obvious. I just have to keep an ear open….” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Kirumi promptly launched into her explanation, summarizing what she’d told Kaede in her lab with little pomp and circumstance. “After dinner was served, everyone gradually returned to their cabins, with the majority having gone to bed or otherwise leaving the dining hall by **eight-thirty** . **Mister Hanamura** , **Miss Ludenberg** , **Miss Pekoyama** , **Miss Ogami**, and myself are the exceptions to this.”

Teruteru twirled the end of his pompadour between his fingers as he chipped in with his side of the story. “‘Rumi and I were **getting down and dirty** in the kitchen to clean up everything until nine, so we can vouch for each other until then.”

“As said before, I was using Sakura’s lab between **eight-thirty and nine fifteen ** last night. Once I was finished, I left through the side door and returned to my cabin **without seeing anyone else**.” Peko restated with a few extra details compared to her brief explanation earlier in the trial.

Sakura let out a low, considering rumble of a hum with her eyes closed. “That might explain why I didn’t see you when I went there, considering the distance between the main entrance and the side door from the exterior. I was in my lab from **nine-twenty until roughly half-past ten** . I also **encountered no one** upon returning to my cabin.”

Celeste folded her hands over each other. “I spent some time in the gift shop before returning to the dining hall approximately a **quarter past nine **and spoke briefly with Kirumi before going to bed myself.”

“I can confirm Mister Hanamura and Miss Ludenberg’s testimonies for certain. Given what we’ve already established, I believe we can trust Miss Pekoyama and Miss Ogami’s statements as well.” Tojo affirmed.

“What about other friends? Should Gonta _ say Gonta’s alibi too _?” The muscle-bound boy asked genuinely.

Chiaki gave a small shake of her head. “Kirumi said everyone else was gone already, so wouldn’t we all just basically be saying the same thing?”

“Most of us, indeed, but there are some here **without an alibi** at all…” Ludenberg cryptically added. Before anyone could state their confusion, she slid her ruby eyes over to the Ultimate Maid. “Kirumi, did you see **Tsumugi leave the dining hall ** last night? Or **Mondo at all** for that matter?”

The biker’s eyes flared wide for a second before narrowing down to a challenging glare that the gambler didn’t even seem to acknowledge, a sneer starting to curl at his lips despite him managing to keep silent. In contrast, Tsumugi curled into herself with a small sigh. “I’m _ plainly not suspicious _… I just have really bad luck!”

Kirumi’s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of a frown pulling at her lips. “I’m afraid I can only vaguely recall Miss Shirogane’s departure, as she did so rather _ abruptly and quietly _. As for Mister Owada… no. I’m unaware of him ever leaving his cabin.”

Something seemed to glint in Korekiyo’s eyes. “Keheheh… curious, isn’t it? Is there anyone who can ** _confirm or deny that claim_ **? If not, it’s certainly an unfortunate coincidence…”

That was enough to get a response out of Mondo, his glare swerving over to the disturbingly calm anthropologist. “You got somethin’ you wanna say, asshole?”

** _PERJURY!_ **

Kaede took a deep, steadying breath as subtly as she could, the air feeling abnormally cold around her and in her lungs. In a way, she thought she should have been used to doing this by now. She’d done it throughout the entirety of Rantaro’s investigation and countless times after, yet lying still filled her with a horrible feeling every time. She had to. The other option was admitting to locking Mondo in his room and everything else that came with it. _ “Just… play it cool. One lie, and we can get back to looking for the truth…” _Akamatsu tried to reassure herself. With only half a moment of hesitation, she opened her eyes and forced out yet another fiction. “Calm down, Mondo. There’s no reason to get upset when we both know you have an alibi.”

Owada’s wide, confused eyes instantly locked with hers. “Huh…? Wha-”

“Mondo, Kaito and I were working out together last night. Kaito likes to do these late night exercise sessions, and he’s been inviting me along since our first night here. Right, Kaito?”

The purple-haired astronaut blinked before quickly coming to his senses. “Er- yeah! A hero and his sidekicks gotta stay fit, after all!!” He somewhat clumsily lied, but the grin on his face quickly transformed into a more genuine one as he flashed a big thumbs up. “Took a lot of convincing, but no one can resist the charms of Kaito Momota forever!”

Mondo’s surprise lingered for only a couple seconds before comprehension flashed in his eyes. He crossed his arms with a small scoff, managing to look fairly natural for someone that literally just heard his alibi. “Don’t act so cocky about it, jackass… but yeah. I got tired of them fuckin’ with me and said I’d go along with it if they shut up. I was with the two of them last night.”

For a moment, no one spoke. Kaede could faintly hear the beat of her heart ticking along like a clock as she waited, the ex-pianist putting all of her focus on keeping her expression still. Her eyes slowly drifted across the courtroom as she tried to take in as many of their reactions as possible without being obvious. Surprise was decently apparent in most of their expressions, almost everyone in the room looking towards the pompadoured criminal with various levels of astonishment after his declaration… with the notable exception of the Ultimate Maid. Kirumi glanced at Kaede with the slightest furrow of her brow, her stoic face slightly tinged with hints of doubt. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up with an icy sense of dread washing over her shoulders as she made eye contact with the only one besides Kaito or Mondo who knew for certain that she’d just lied to everyone, sucking in a small breath without meaning to. _ “Please,” _ She pleaded in her mind, hoping against hope that Tojo could understand her thoughts somehow. _ “Please don’t call me out. You know I didn’t do this, so just trust me, please-” _

“... Well, I guess that proves it. All three of them were together, so they all have alibis.” Chiaki’s voice finally proclaimed as the gamer gave a small smile that Kaede forced herself not to give a massive sigh of relief at. The thick tension that seemed to envelope Kaede like a shroud finally seemed to dissipate at Nanami’s backing, the looks of her friends seeming less questioning and doubtful than they had a few seconds prior.

Kirumi’s confliction lingered for a few moments longer as her expression seemed to shift minutely back and forth before ultimately giving a small bow of her head. “... A three-way alibi is certainly difficult to argue with. I believe it’s safe to consider it truthful.”

Akamatsu gave a silent thanks to her diligent friend, counting her lucky stars that Kirumi was willing to play along with her lie. It seemed like she’d gotten away with it. Excellent. Without Mondo around as the scapegoat, that meant they could focus on-

“Aren’t you being rather brash?”

The words sliced through Kaede’s thoughts like a samurai’s blade, the blonde instantly ripped from her internal scheming as she stared at the source of the voice in absolute shock. “C-Celeste?”

The ever perfectly composed gambler had hardly shifted her expression, only a slight narrowing of her eyes giving an indication of her feelings. “Is it not brash to believe such a thing simply at Kaede’s word?”

Kaede barely held back a wince, a deep, worried frown adorning her face as she waved a hand to the side. “B-but it’s not just my word. Kaito and Mondo also said-”

“One of whom lacked an alibi before hand and would latch onto any offered like a lifeboat, and the other of whom you had to prompt first?” Ludenberg challenged with an obviously doubting tone, her eyes continuing to narrow at the musician. She gave a light shake of her head. “I can certainly appreciate the daring, but I’m afraid your ploy was rather easy to see through. ”

“That doesn’t mean anything! If just checking with someone to confirm something means it’s a lie, then everyone’s been lying this whole trial!” Kaito bellowed out with a glare, a hand balled in outrage.

The morbid aristocrat didn’t so much as blink. “Most people here aren’t spending time with Kaede more often than not, either. They are far less inclined to lie to protect her or her interests.”

Mondo was similarly displeased, a scowl on his face as he glowered at the meddling goth. “You wanna show some actual proof we’re makin’ this up, or are ya just fuckin’ with us?”

Celeste didn’t back down in the face of his wrath. If anything, she visibly grew more pleased, a confident, tiny smile pulling at the corners of her lips in an unnervingly menacing smirk. “Relax, Mondo. There is a simple question that can determine your honesty. Answer it correctly, and we can be confident that Kaede told the truth and your alibi is fact.”

Something lurched in Kaede’s stomach, the same tense of dread she had felt immediately after telling the lie returning far more powerfully than before. Mondo’s harsh look morphed into a snarl “Are you fuckin’ serious? Did you forget we’re on a time limit here? We can’t waste time on stupid-”

“If we truly have no time to waste, then it’s all the more reason to answer my question as soon as possible.” Celeste cut him off, a touch of malice bleeding into her composure. 

Teruteru nervously tapped his fingers together with an uneasy look on his face. “Eheh… not that I like seeing you on the grill like this, but wouldn’t it be a lot easier just to answer it? I mean, if it’s really something simple, it’s not like you’ve got much to lose, right?”

“Speak truly, and you may be spared. However, damnation holds no mercy for the soul of a deceiver forcefully laid bare. Think through your options carefully, sinner…” Tanaka warned grimly, his arms crossed and scarf pulled over the lower half of his face.

As the pressure began to build, Kaede could see Owada’s fists tighten, the tension building in his shoulders with each thinly veiled accusation. “Fine,” He finally spat out with a dark glare. His snakish eyes flicked directly to the gambler in an unspoken challenge. “Hurry the hell up and get to the point.”

“Very well then,” Celeste agreed, her eyes starting to gleam as she put forth a seemingly innocuous question with a damning trap attached to it. “What time did the three of you get together?”

Mondo hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to rub the back of his neck but forcing his hands to stay by his sides to avoid suspicion. “I… around eleven, prolly. Happy?” The biker replied, and the instant the words left his mouth Kaede knew he stumbled right into whatever plan the Ultimate Gambler had designed. 

Celeste smiled slightly, a horrible knowing smirk that was as intimidating as a predator’s maw. “Hm. Is that so?” Her far too innocent voice questioned. Mondo rolled his eyes in annoyance and moved to respond only to fall silent as she cut directly to the heart of the matter. “I find that rather curious, given that Kaede was in her lab at the time you were supposedly meeting.”

The world flipped on its head. Kaede’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in shock. “H-huh?!” She sputtered out before she could even realize what she was doing, too startled by the reveal to think out a proper response. She instantly regretted it, the edge of panic silently announcing it as the truth painfully obvious to her ears. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard, but the surprised and increasingly suspicious eyes shifting to her all around the room confirmed that she hadn’t misheard the gambler. It took a few seconds for her to come to her senses, shaking the disbelief away as she forced herself to meet Celeste’s razor sharp gaze. “I... don’t know what you mean. I mean, we met a little closer to eleven-fifteen than Mondo said, but we _ were _ together, and I wasn’t at my lab last night.”

The goth let out an almost disappointed hum. “You haven’t fixed your tell, Kaede. Attempting to bluff against the Queen of Liars is a bold decision that I can certainly admire, but it doesn’t change the fact that you just lied twice about what you were doing last night. That’s also overlooking how you had Kaito lie for you and Mondo as well.”

“Hey! If you wanna call me and Kaede liars, how about you show some evidence?!” Kaito angrily demanded, glaring fiercely at Ludenberg.

It wasn’t Celeste that furthered the theory, however. “... Sorry. I thought this would be way more of a cool ‘objection!’ moment, but now that it’s happening, I plainly just feel bad about this…” Tsumugi lamented with a slight grimace as she shyly raised her hand. 

Kaede blinked. “Tsumugi? What’s this about?”

The cosplayer rubbed at her cheek, frowning. “Well… I’m kind of the one that told Celeste that. Last night while I was reading, I thought I heard something outside my door, so I checked the map on my monopad to see if someone was trying to get in. There wasn’t… but I saw some people weren’t in their rooms. It struck me as pretty suspicious, so I checked the second deck… and I saw your icon in the piano lab.”

“What time was it, Tsumugi? And was there anything else strange?” Celeste pressed with a knowing tone. Tsumugi rubbed at her elbow.

“Kaito was still in his room, but Mondo was on the stairwell between decks. I remember checking the clock and seeing it was **about eleven-ten**…”

Kaede’s blood froze in her veins. In the span of just over a minute, she’d gone from being in control and confident to having her lies exposed before she could even try to step towards the truth. _ “... N-no! I can’t let things come apart before they even get started! We’ll never find the truth if everyone gets stuck on this one little detail! I have to keep it up… even if that means making people doubt her. I’m sorry, Tsumugi…” _Akamatsu decided, the guilt of what she was about to do already settling in her stomach like a stone. On the outside, Kaede stood before them unafraid, her face hiding her worry and shame behind a mask of determination. “Tsumugi… I don’t know why you’re doing it, but you don’t have to lie.”

The way those greenish eyes of hers widened with bewilderment and hurt felt like a gut punch to Kaede. “L-lying…?! N-no! I’m plainly telling the truth here!”

“Are you, Tsumugi? I cannot say for certain one way or the other, but that is precisely the problem with your claim. Kaede could very well be lying, but your word against hers is hardly solid proof, especially when there are corroborating witnesses for her account,” Korekiyo pointed out, his voice taking on an odd sort of constricted amusement that seemed to make the words slither despite his relatively polite phrasing. “Unfortunately, your sense of timing has given us another situation like the receiver debacle. Is there anyone else who can confirm this?”

Shirogane seemed to shrink as dead silence smothered the courtroom. “Erm… I guess not… b-but I swear I’m telling the truth!”

“You insist your innocence with such vigor, yet it is undeniable that you’ve held onto this supposed truth until it became convenient for discrediting another. Why conceal evidence of such import, plain one?” Gundham questioned.

“Because Celeste told me not to say anything about it until she did!” The bluenette desperately cried out, throwing a hand in the direction of the gambler. “I told her about it while we were investigating together, and she said to keep it a secret! I’m not like some weird antagonist that likes giving important details way too late in the season!”

Every set of eyes in the trial hall shifted to Ludenberg, the gambler’s lips pursing more and more with each suspicious glare. Kaede was no different, her arms crossing as her eyes narrowed at the goth. On the one hand, her turnabout was working wonderfully, as the focus had been completely shifted off of her, but in turn, that now left the question of what exactly Celestia was plotting. It figured she must have had something going on, but there wasn’t enough to work off yet to figure out what. The girl stayed quiet despite fourteen sets of questioning eyes on her until Kaede decided to start applying pressure. “Well, Celeste? Is that true? Did you tell Tsumugi to lie if I brought up our alibi?”

Kaede suppressed a wince at Tsumugi’s muttered objection in favor of Celeste’s response. “I merely told her to say what she said to me once it was relevant to do so. I never instructed her to lie. If the information she gave me is false, that rests squarely on her shoulders.”

“But you don’t deny telling her to hide what she knew…” Sakura challenged with a hard look.

“You also previously admitted to giving Kaede instructions on where to investigate without notifying anyone else. I cannot help but notice a pattern forming here, Miss Ludenberg. Have you been orchestrating people during this investigation?” Kirumi asked with a glove to her chin

Celeste once again toyed with her hair, looking almost bored by the accusations. “Only so as to ensure that their testimonies could not be planned around by the culprit if they were true. You do not get very far in gambling if you cannot keep at least some of your cards close to your vest.”

“Bullshit. You’re up to somethin’. Stop fuckin’ around and just spit it out.” Mondo gruffly demanded.

Celeste’s gaze darkened. “The burden of proof falls back to you to prove that, and I’m certain you wouldn’t even begin to know what clues to look for even if I was doing such a thing. I have no interest in dying, Mondo, so at the very least you can trust in my aversion to suicide and believe me when I say these efforts are solely for the sake of exposing the truth of this dreadful crime.”

The biker looked like he was going to object again, but Kirumi intervened, cutting off their argument before it could begin. “As concerning as Miss Ludenberg’s machinations are, it is imperative we establish where we stand on Miss Shirogane’s testimony before we go any further. Our consensus could very well determine the course of this trial going forward.”

Kaito scratched at the back of his head. “Isn’t it obvious it’s a bunch of crap?” He wondered aloud, his purple eyes drifting from person to person before lingering on the rather distressed Shirogane a couple podiums away. “I don’t think Tsumugi’s lying, but there’s no way she saw what she thought she did. There’s gotta be something going on here.”

“I swear, it’s the truth! If I were a book, it’d plainly be written all over me! Oh, if only someone here had a stand like that…!”

Peko showed little concern over Tsumugi’s increasingly dramatic pleas. “Whether you are or not is less of a problem than the fact that it can’t be confirmed. You already said you were alone in your room when you saw this and didn’t mention telling anyone about it when it was happening. That means it’s impossible for anyone to support what you claim. It would be hasty to entirely discount it, but there isn’t enough to justify taking it further than it’s already gone.”

Leon looked clearly uneasy, his hands shoved in his pockets as he slightly swayed where he stood. “Tch… not gonna lie, that sounds mega friggin’ suspicious, but… only she saw it, right? I mean, if she said I was walking around, there’d be jack I could do to counter it besides saying I didn’t, whether I was or not…”

Akamatsu’s apparent victory brought her no satisfaction. If anything, the taste of ash bitterly permeating her mouth reinforced the guilt she could already feel emerging within her. _ “‘Lies always come with a price’... let’s just hope this one balances out…” _She solemnly mused, already making a note to apologize to Tsumugi as soon as she got the chance.

Mikan tapped her fingers together, an odd sort of cross between a nervous grin and a grimace on her face. “S-so does that mean we should listen to Kaede? Because, um, I-I believe in her… n-not that I don’t trust Tsumugi too! I didn’t mean it like that!” The nurse shrieked out in a panic.

Shirogane simply sighed with a dejected look. “It must be nice being the heroine instead of a background character…” The cosplayer muttered under her breath. Her rotten luck seemed to take a turn for the better, however, as an unexpected Ultimate came to her defense.

“Before we switch burners here, there’s something on my mind I want to get sorted,” Teruteru spoke up as he rubbed his chin curiously. “Once you guys finished up working out together, did any of you happen to do anything _ interesting _to round out the night?” He asked, and if looks could kill, everyone in the courtroom would have been guilty of ending his life right then and there.

“Seriously, ya skeevy little fatass?!”

“Does your delusional search for carnality never end, incubus?!”

“How uncouth…”

Those and many more protests erupted almost simultaneously in sheer loathing of the short cook’s insinuation. Kaede was no different, a fierce look coming over her as she grit her teeth. Kirumi was only a little more restrained, the outrage quietly glinting in her eyes instead of flashing outward like so many others. “Mister Hanamura, a man is dead. This is no time to be making unwanted and unfounded inquiries on the private lives of our peers. I do **not **wish to repeat this again…”

Teruteru frantically threw his hands up in surrender. “Nonono! Not what I meant! Bad choice of words, that’s all! I swear on my life there’s a point here!”

“Your life is one matter. Are you willing to stake all of our lives on this supposed point?” Celeste demanded bluntly. 

Teruteru gave a shaky nod. “... Y-yeah. I think it’s that important.”

Leon glared at him, going a bit red in the face. “Then what the hell are you waiting for?! Hurry up already!”

“Tsk… no one has a sense of foreplay these days…” Hanamura grumbled. “Fine. Without anything you think I might be implying along with it, what did you guys do after your little get together?”

Kaito quirked an eyebrow, settling a hand on his hip. “Seriously…? We just went back to our rooms. It was almost midnight, and there’s no way to stargaze around here. Not like there’s much else we could do.”

“Yeah. Big fuckin’ mystery, Sherlock. Ain’t like I’ve been out and about anyways; I’d have no idea where to look for somethin’ worthwhile if I wanted to.” Mondo pointed out. Something glinted in the portly chef’s eyes, an almost rueful smirk coming to him.

“Is that so…?” He all but chuckled, his gaze briefly flicking to the confused blonde next to him. His smile fell a little, the boy quickly glancing away. “Sorry, chérie…” Teruteru quietly apologized, and before she could even think about what he meant, his confident grin returned. “I guess you didn’t have to look very hard then, seeing as how you were in Kaede’s room last night.”

Surprise, betrayal, and a jolt of fear shot up Kaede’s spine, her pink eyes widening at his dramatic reveal. “H-huh?!” Was all she was able to get out, too taken aback by the turn of events to get her thoughts in order. He _ promised _to keep that a secret, yet there was no denying or misinterpreting what had just been brazenly announced in front of everyone. Anger and hurt didn’t have long to fester, however, as the Ultimate Biker was quick to react in possibly the worst way possible.

“HEY! What the fuck are you sayin’?!” Owada roared, slamming a fist down on his podium with a snarl. “I never went near her cabin! You think you can say shit like that about a chick?! Or _ me _?! Whatever sick thoughts you’ve got, keep’em to yourself, or I’ll make ya spit out your teeth!”

Teruteru paled, the lurid Ultimate taking a step back on his podium. “H-hold on, I never said you two were getting frisky! Whether anyone took a ride on a Harley or not, all I’m saying is that I saw you two’s icon in the same cabin last night!” He frantically clarified, either not noticing or not caring about the vulgar act he much more explicitly accused them of in his panic.

“Guys, let’s ignore the weird stuff for now. Try to focus on what he really means here,” Chiaki calmly interrupted before any more vulgarities could be exchanged. Nanami turned directly to the boy in question, a firm but unjudging look on her face. “Teruteru, if you’re not joking, why didn’t you bring this up earlier? Could you tell us that?”

Teruteru rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “W-well, it didn’t seem all that important until now. I figured you guys wouldn’t believe me anyway even if I did say it earlier, given it’s coming from moi. And…” He hesitated for a moment, seeming to debate whether or not he should finish what he was going to say before clicking his tongue. “... Honestly? Kaede asked me not to mention it.”

The ex-Ultimate Pianist could feel sweat starting to form on her brow as she yet again became the center of attention. Shock, suspicion, intrigue, concern, and more filled the gazes of her fellow blackened, Kaede unconsciously tensing her hands into fists against her skirt. “Well, Kaede? Is _ that _true?” Celeste asked somewhat mockingly, throwing the leader’s own accusation back in her face.

Kaede tried her hardest to keep a neutral expression even as a hellish chill of anxiety started creeping over her. She could try to lie… _ again _… but there’s not much she could say that would actually disprove what he claimed. If anything, trying to deny it after such a direct and pointed accusation would just make her look more suspicious than she already did. She couldn’t just keep claiming everyone that said something against her was lying like a bratty little girl and expect people to trust anything she said, after all. With a quiet breath, she crossed her arms and admitted the truth. “... Yes. It is.”

A few gasps and startled comments erupted around the room at her reluctant confession. “H-huh…? Does that mean… friends lied about last night?” Gonta asked, his red eyes full of an incomprehension only innocence could allow. Mondo’s shocked stare was more akin to someone that had a rug pulled out from under them and suddenly found themselves cascading towards the floor. Both served as the first of many pains to follow.

“M-Mondo was in her r-room last night…?” Mikan narrowed down, distress tinting her voice.

Tsumugi let out a disappointed sigh. “He was? Oh… rest in peace my OTP, I guess. Sorry, Mikan.”

“H-huh?! Wh-what do you m-mean by that?!” The nurse squeaked out, eyes wide and face taking on a slight flush. 

Kaede glanced nervously at Kirumi, the maid caught somewhere between deep concern and a sort of reluctant curiosity. _ “... I never told her about Mondo. She’s as in the dark as everyone else…” _She realized, most of her mind focused on how exactly to explain without going down a road she’d rather avoid. She wouldn’t have the chance, however.

Sakura ignored the banter of the other students, crossing her arms and letting out a low hum. “Hmm… this is... disturbing. It seems there is no choice now. I cannot ignore what I saw this morning any longer.”

Kirumi’s brow furrowed, her emerald eye glinting with reluctant curiosity as she fixed her gaze on the muscular girl. “... Miss Ogami, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you are referring to. We have been together nearly the entire morning, but I cannot think of what in particular you’re talking about. Could you please explain what you mean?”

The Ultimate Martial Artist inclined her head a little to meet the maid’s gaze directly. “I apologize for being blunt, but I am referring to you and Kaede, Kirumi.”

Tojo blinked, clearly caught off guard. “... I beg your pardon?” She asked as politely as she could despite the tinge of uncertain offense in her voice. Sakura closed her eyes.

“I did not think it was worth mentioning, but given what Teruteru and Tsumugi claim, I cannot help but question both your actions when we first encountered each other this morning. You said that you were busy assisting Kaede with something important, which turned out to involve her lab. On its own, this means little…” Sakura conceded, only for her silver eyes to open with a pointed gaze to the former pianist. “However… if Kaede was in her lab last night as Tsumugi said, then her ‘urgent request’ becomes much more concerning, especially as you were quick to send me away. We have already established that you lied about one aspect of your alibi, Kaede. Though it brings me no joy to say, your actions have cast doubt upon yourself and those close to you. Knowing all that, I ask of you: what were you planning to have Kirumi do in your lab?”

“Hold on! It’s not like that! It’s just… I thought it could probably do with a clean up, but didn’t want Kirumi to have to do it alone! A-and I didn’t think it would be a big problem, so I didn’t want to waste your time!” Kaede half-lied. It was getting harder and harder to keep her voice steady as the eyes of the people around her grew less and less trusting with every breath, her own excuses sounding weak to her ears.

“And why pray tell would your lab need cleaning if you were never there to sully it to begin with? There are few here who would dare tread in the lair of a fellow killer. There would be no reason to request Kirumi’s services…” The Dark Overlord of Ice coldly dismissed, his mismatched eyes boring into her doubtfully.

Kaito was quick to leap to her defense, teeth grit and fist pumped. “Stop screwin’ around! Okay, yeah, I didn’t know about the Mondo thing, but there’s totally reasonable explanations for her not wanting to bring that up! And that stuff about her lab coulda happened any day! It’s total coincidence!”

Korekiyo let out a series of tsks. “Once is chance, Kaito. Twice is coincidence. Thrice? That is a pattern. No less than three individuals have found something odd about her alibi. Which, let me remind you, is also _ yours _. Overlooking that would simply be suicidal in these circumstances.”

“Everyone, I must request that you calm down. Accusations born of conjecture are baseless, and emotional arguing will get us no closer to the truth… no matter how well intentioned,” Kirumi calmly declared with only the slightest raise of her voice, though she almost muttered that last part as she sent a conflicted glance to Kaito. Gently clasping her hands together, the maid continued. “... Kaede is telling the truth. When we met this morning, she asked that I clean her lab and insisted on accompanying me. She said it was something she needed to do.” Tojo carefully explained. With as graceful and fluid as her report was, had she been anyone else, Kaede would never have even suspected that the silver-haired servant had just told a massive lie of omission. The musician looked to her as gratefully as she could without looking suspicious, trying to push down the desire to run over and hug her dear friend right then and there. Twice now Kirumi had covered for her, and twice now Kaede could only pray she’d find a way to make it back up to her somehow.

The dire words that came next, however, shattered that brief moment of peace into a thousand pieces. “... G-guys…?” Tsumugi anxiously called attention to herself, her face taking on a ghostly shade of blue. The cosplayer’s hands were gripping each other so tightly that her nails might have left marks in the skin if she held the position too long. With a thick gulp as she seemed to physically swallow down her apprehension, Shirogane made the most damning accusation yet. “... What if there _ was _ a mess Kaede needed help cleaning? Something she really had to have someone check out as soon as possible? Like, something that happened **just last night**…”

Kaede stared at her in incomprehension for several long moments until the shocking weight behind the words finally clicked and her mouth turned as dry as a desert. It felt like she’d been tossed in a frozen lake, yet her tongue felt like chalk as she struggled to respond to that. N-no way… surely she wasn’t…! “H-hang on! A-are… are you saying you think I _ knew _about Hifumi?!” Akamatsu stumbled out in absolute horror before she desperately shook her head and threw her arms up defensively. “N-no! No, I swear, I didn’t-”

“Nevermind that. Fear mongering won’t help, Tsumugi,” Peko warned with a sharp glare before turning it onto Kaede. “Kaede. You admitted that you told Teruteru not to testify about what he’d seen. It’s all but confirmed that you lied about going to your lab last night. If you truly care about the truth of this case, answer this: why? The most obvious reason would be that it’s true, which means it’s all the more important you explain yourself. I recommend you do so immediately.”

Kaede’s hands shot out to grab her podium as it rocked beneath her slightly and lurched forward to present her to the court, her growing dread only worsening under the ominous red spotlight. She gripped at her elbow tightly, forcing herself not to look away from their expectant gazes despite the borderline terror she was becoming engulfed by. _ “No, no, no! E-everyone suspects _ ** _me_ ** _ …?! This can’t be happening!” _ The frightened leader screamed in her mind. She didn’t do it. She _ knew _she didn’t do it. Yet, despite all her talk of the truth, she let herself get tripped up by her own lies, and now they were spiraling down the wrong road that ended in the deaths of everyone here. “G-guys… I-I swear… it’s not…!” She disjointedly pleaded as an explanation failed to form, her mind going blank as fear began poisoning her thoughts in a cloud. Her lack of response clearly didn’t impress her increasingly suspicious friends as Peko’s eyes narrowed warningly. The swordswoman was hardly the only one, more and more of her fellow blackened gaining looks of doubt, fear, hurt-

“Fuck this.”

Kaede’s eyes went wide, surprise and confusion briefly overriding her panic as she turned her head towards the source of the voice. “M-Mondo…? What…?”

“Fuck this,” The biker gruffly repeated, his fists clenched tightly by his sides as he looked down at the ground. His chest rose as he took a deep breath and quietly let it out before his head slowly rose up, Mondo’s hard yellow eyes trailing over each and every face in the courtroom as his jaw locked firmly. “I can’t watch this shit anymore, so I’m just gonna say it. You’re right about one thing: Kaede lied. I wasn’t hanging out with them last night. All that bullshit was her tryin’ to cover for me.”

The courtroom exploded into noise, but Akamatsu couldn’t hear any of it. All she could do was stare at him numbly, completely unable to comprehend what in the _ hell _he was doing. She jolted back to her senses with another spike of dread distinct from the overwhelming panic from mere moments prior. “M-Mondo! What are you doing?!”

“Telling the truth. I ain’t letting you get fucked over for my mistakes. A real man wouldn’t have let it get this far to start with.” He solemnly intoned with a shake of his head, only able to meet her gaze for a second before looking away again.

“Keheheh, what an intriguing turn of events! Do explain what you mean, Mondo…” Korekiyo all too excitedly encouraged. 

“Shit, is he saying what I think he’s saying...?” Leon muttered out in disbelief.

Kaito stared at him with the utmost seriousness the astronaut had ever displayed around Kaede. “Mondo…” He started, but never finished, uncertainty tinting his features before he could get any farther.

The other students chirped in with their own comments and statements of surprise, most talking more to themselves than actually trying to join into the debate. Kaede shook her head, just a little at first but becoming increasingly desperate each millisecond. She couldn’t let him do this. Things were already going horribly wrong, but if he made his confession, they’d throw him to the wolves, and everyone else would join him soon after. She couldn’t- she _ wouldn’t _let this happen. “Mondo, stop lying! You WERE with us! We-”

“Cut the shit, Kaede. It’s obvious no one buys that,” He shot back assertively. Owada showed no reaction as his podium replaced her spot in the center, the red light above painting his face in shadow beneath his hair. Instead, he simply took his opportunity to address everyone. “You listenin’? Kaede didn’t have anything to do with this, and I can tell you exactly why.”

The blonde’s distress quickly transformed into a mixture of horror and anger, her blood burning and freezing in her veins all at once. “Don’t do this! Mon-”

“Calm yourself, Siren, lest you draw more suspicion upon yourself. Mondo’s words must reign free if we are to dispel the fog surrounding this mystery!” Tanaka boomed with a glare.

“Mister Owada, if you have proof that can clear Kaede of suspicion, then I encourage you to present it. However, you have to be aware of what exactly you’re saying here…” Kirumi warned, her gaze wary and knowing.

Mondo shook his head. “I ain’t saying _ that _… look. I didn’t kill Hifumi… but I wanted to-”

“Mondo! _ Shut _ ! ** _Up_ ** !” Kaede shouted as the last of her patience snapped, nothing but pure emotion consuming her thought process. Fury, fear, panic, all of it swirled in her like a storm, the girl hoping with every fiber of her being that the biker would finally listen and stop while the situation was still _ somewhat _ salvageable.

But he didn’t, and without a moment of hesitation, Mondo confessed what she’d hoped would remain a secret to the day they died. “- I _ tried _to kill him last night-”

“** _MONDO!_ **”

“-and I almost killed Kaede doin’ it.”

For the briefest of moments, everything fell silent. Not so much as a whisper disturbed the suffocating silence that overtook the hall, Mondo’s words ringing like a gunshot in their minds as nobody could do a thing but stand and stare with absolute shock on their faces. Kaede felt hollow, her mind going blank as the absolute worst case scenario she could have pictured played out right before her eyes. The girl that had been the Ultimate Pianist blinked, sucking in a small, icy breath as if it was the last she’d ever take…

And then everything went to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To that guy that said you had a feeling Mondo's fight with Kaede would come up this chapter: You're a prophet.
> 
> If there's anything explained this trial that doesn't quite make sense, please let us know in the comments, and we'll try to simplify it as best we can. I know CSpratt was having a bit of trouble following along with some of my explanations, so it's no problem. Hope you all enjoyed, and please let us know your thoughts!
> 
> EDIT: Everyone, thank you SO much for TWO HUNDRED KUDOS! This is an incredible milestone for us, and we're incredibly honored to have such wonderfully devoted readers that come back chapter after chapter! You guys are awesome, so sincerely, thank you all for following along and helping this story be the best it can be! :D
> 
> -MrCynical


	15. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Trial Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Kaede's lie, the Ultimate Pianist tries to prove Mondo's innocence as she closes in on the true killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a touch longer than usual on this one! It was an important one to get right, so we wanted to put extra time into it. Hopefully an extra 4k words on top of the usual makes up for that? :D
> 
> Enjoy, fellas!
> 
> -MrCynical

To say the others reacted poorly to Mondo’s confession would be an understatement beyond compare.

“I-impossible…!”

“Th-the hell, man?!”

“H-hang on, weren’t they investigating together?!”

“EEEEK! N-no! Y-you couldn’t have! Wh-why would anyone-”

“_ That’s _the kind of smashing you were up to last night?!”

“You attack Kaede?! No way! Why would friend do that?!”

“You would target ones weaker than yourself…?! You _ coward _!”

Nearly everyone in the room let out some proclamation of stunned disbelief, even the ones managing to keep silent found themselves unable to hide it from their faces and body language. Not even the Ultimate Gambler could quite manage to conceal the fact that she was flummoxed, Celeste blinking and gaining a hint of a startled grimace. Only Kaede and Kaito were relatively unaffected, though the leader turned suspect was still unable to comprehend what he’d just done with his admission. The most visceral reaction, however, came from person Kaede could never picture becoming overtaken by emotion.

“You did ** _what_ **?!” Kirumi bellowed, the maid well and truly losing her composure for the first time since Kaede met her as shock and outrage shattered through her ever-stoic mask. Her previously narrowed and scrutinizing eye had all but bulged out of her skull, openly glaring at the man. Were Kaede less beside herself from Mondo’s abrupt declaration, she would probably be completely taken aback by Tojo’s sudden burst of genuine anger.

To his credit, Mondo didn’t so much as flinch at the volley of spiteful accusations and condemnations, simply standing there and silently taking their anger. If she didn’t know better, Akamatsu might have thought he was a statue, the man as still and lifeless as the defaced portrait of Yamada. When it became clear that he wouldn’t be saying anything more, Kirumi turned her sights to the former Ultimate Pianist. “Kaede, is this true?” She asked, concern replacing some of the fury in her voice. Her emerald gaze was almost pleading, but there was an undeniable firmness to them that carried an unspoken message loud and clear: _ “Don’t try to lie about this.” _

Kaede blinked, the question partially pulling the girl from her stupefied state. She looked around at her friends and fellow prisoners, only vaguely being able to acknowledge the disbelief on their faces. It almost felt like she was in a dream, a nightmare of the worst possible way things could’ve played out, yet she was just conscious enough to know that wasn’t the case. She let out a breath she forgot she was holding, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to dispel the fog that descended over her mind. _ “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” _ She thought to herself, the words dull and monotone even in her own mind. _ “It was supposed to be easy. Now… oh, god…” _Her thoughts trailed off as she suddenly became keenly aware of the people all waiting for her answer. 

They were staring at her again, their suspicious glares from earlier now replaced with something dangerously close to pity that somehow cut far deeper than their distrust ever could. Akamatsu clutched at her elbow like her life depended on it, enveloping herself in a hug that only served to make herself feel worse for showing such _ weakness _ in front of the people depending on her. Shame filled the hollowness she’d felt mere moments prior, the musician completely unable to look at anyone, let alone dare to meet their gaze after all she’d done. Kaede closed her eyes, wincing at the awful feelings stirring within her. Her lies failed. Her attempt to protect her friend failed. _ She _failed. Now, she got to pay the price of not only having those mistakes exposed and being revealed as a liar, but have the very thing she was trying so hard to cover up be brazenly revealed, the crescendo of the nightmarish symphony the trial had become. A quiet, defeated sigh escaped her, Kaede’s shoulders slumping and head bowing like a prisoner awaiting the guillotine. “... You weren’t supposed to tell them, Mondo…” 

Her indirect confirmation was more than enough to convince them, a deathly quiet falling over the previously bustling courtroom as the words truly began to sink in. “Holy shit, man…” Leon finally muttered out, completely stunned. For once, the baseball star seemed to be speaking for the majority, as everyone else was too taken aback by the turn of events to voice anything different. 

After a short eternity, someone finally mustered up the courage to speak up. “... Well. That statement certainly leaves us with a lot to unpack, given that you not only just admitted to _ two different _ murder attempts, but also invalidated the entirity of two other people’s alibis. I believe an explanation is an order, though where to start is a large question all on its own. Would anyone care to take the lead?” Celeste calmly asked, the goth seeming to be the first to fully return to their senses. Ludenberg’s question was like a wake up call for the others as they too snapped back from their daze and promptly leapt back to the task at hand.

“The beginning would likely be a good idea. The sooner we have the full -and _ honest _\- story of what happened last night, the sooner we can understand all of this,” Peko declared decisively, her gaze firm and voice unwavering. Crossing her arms, she prompted the pair to explain themselves. “Both of you, tell us everything that led up to this and what followed after in as much detail as you can. We’ll figure out how to proceed from there.”

Kaede didn’t say a word, stuck between wanting to make amends for her deception by abiding their request and the stifling shame of what was being exposed in the first place. She opened her mouth to start, but her courage instantly faltered, the disgraced leader looking down at the floor. “... I… I’m sorry… Mondo, could you…?” She trailed off with a resigned sigh, vaguely waving a hand in his direction. “Just to get us started. I just need a minute…”

The biker was out of her field of vision, but she could all but hear his nod. “Yeah… yeah, alright,” Mondo agreed, his voice almost alien in how soft it was compared to his usual ferocious snarls. “From the beginning, huh? Guess that’d prolly be when I got my motive video… a while after the nighttime announcement last night, I was in my room just… existing, I guess, when all of the sudden my pad started beepin’. Thought it was an alarm or some shit, so I was gonna throw the thing across the fuckin’ room, but right as I grabbed it, the thing flashed on and popped up with one of the tapes Monokuma was talkin’ about. I wasn’t plannin’ on watchin’ it if I got one, but… _ tch _ ,” Owada let out a derisive mix of a scoff and a humorless laugh, a touch of bitterness bleeding into his voice. “But honestly? I was bored as all hell. I saw that thing pop up and thought to myself, ‘fuck it, why not?’, so I started it up. Turns out, it was Yamada’s video… and that fat son of a bitch killed someone I cared about over a goddamn _ laptop _.”

“... That’s right... Alter Ego…” Sakura muttered, a far away look on her face. She seemed to return to reality a few moments later with a small shake of her head. “... I apologize. That simply reminded me of something I’d forgotten.”

Before Mondo could get back to his story, however, Kaito’s eyes went wide. “Hey, hang on a second. Did you just say ‘alter ego’?”

Ogami’s silver gaze turned to him, an eyebrow raised curiously. “Yes. From the look in your eye, it seems you know what I’m talking about…” She noted somewhat probbingly, subtly trying to spur the astronaut to elaborate. 

Kaito pulled on his goatee with a furrowed brow. “Alter Ego… isn’t that what Monokuma called that digital copy of Gonta?”

Leon blinked dumbly. “The what?” He questioned, only to be promptly ignored.

“Ah, that right! Computer Gonta say he was Alter Ego! But… does that mean Sakura knew Computer Gonta?” The Ultimate Entomologist asked, clearly confused. Sakura let out a low, disagreeing hum.

“I do not recall ever meeting someone like you before this killing game, but it seems we somehow both met Alter Ego. But… how?”

Monokuma through a pair of paws over his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle a giggle. “Puhuhuhu…! I wonder what it could mean!”

Kirumi politely cleared her throat, distracting them from their discussion as she thinned her lips. “While this link between our killing games is peculiar, it is something that will have to be tabled for now. Mister Owada, if you would please continue? You had just finished watching the motive video.” Tojo instructed. Most of her composure had returned from her earlier outburst, but there was a notable rigidness in her tone as she addressed the Ultimate Biker, her eyes hard and somewhat expectant. 

“Right… at first, I couldn’t believe it. I was just sittin’ there, staring’ at the thing like a robot or somethin’,” Mondo said. Almost immediately after, a dark scowl encompassed his features as his jaw locked and his hands tensed into fists by his sides. “But once it really sank in what that fucker had done, I wanted to rip his goddamn head off. I can’t remember a whole lot of it after that clearly, but I remember grabbin’ one of the dumbbells in my room and goin’ out to look for him. Couldn’t find the bastard anywhere, but I was too pissed off to stop tryin’... ‘til I ran into Kaede.”

Akamatsu winced as the memories of the night prior involuntarily flooded her mind again and again with every moment of Mondo’s explanation. Her name sounded like an accusation to her ears, barely managing to keep herself from flinching at the mention. She took a shaky breath, closing her eyes and swallowing thickly as she once again felt the dreadful weight of everyone’s waiting eyes fall upon her. Chills rocked the ex-pianist’s body despite an uncomfortable warmth enveloping her from head to toe. It was the same feeling she had when she looked into Shuichi’s eyes and realized they both knew the truth. And just as she did then, she knew she had to face it head on, no matter how much she wished she could run away from it all. 

Mustering up all the courage she had, Kaede looked up from the ground, not quite able to meet anyone’s eyes but refusing to turn away anymore. “... Before I say anything else… I’m sorry, everyone. I lied because I didn’t want things to turn out like this, but it’s obvious all I’ve done is ruin everything,” She apologized, and unlike so much she’d said during the trial, she meant every word of it. It’d be a miracle if any of them ever trusted a thing she said from then on, but if they believed one thing, she hoped it was that. Still, she didn’t bother waiting for their responses before starting her explanation, refusing to look like she was fishing for forgiveness when she knew full well that she didn’t deserve it without doing anything to make amends. “As you probably figured out by now, Tsumugi’s telling the truth. I _ was _ in my lab last night. With the motive and everything else that’s going on and already happened, I needed to do _ something _to take my mind off things. So, I ended up playing the piano for a while. But...”

The blonde hesitated. She couldn’t lie _ again _, but there was no way on earth she could ever admit what actually happened. No matter how much Tojo insisted that it shouldn’t be, her ridiculous condition was absolutely humiliating. It was mortifying enough that Kirumi knew and a couple others probably suspected it. Announcing in front of everyone that she freaked out and fainted over something as stupid as playing the piano? Just the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. “... I ended up losing track of time and stayed there way later than I meant to. Kaito and I were supposed to meet up around ten, but I didn’t leave my lab until… probably eleven twenty. I was making my way back to the dorms when I ran into Mondo outside of Kirumi’s lab. He wanted to know where Hifumi was, and when I wouldn’t let him leave without explaining what was going on, we got into an argument, and it only got worse when I realized what he was going to do. I said trying to get revenge was weak…”

Mondo sighed as he picked up where she left off. “Hearin’ that… somethin’ snapped. I couldn’t believe she’d just said something like that to me. After everything else I’ve been through, to have someone call me weak to my face…” He closed his eyes with a pained grimace, his knuckles turning a ghostly shade of white from how hard he clenched them. “Everything went red. Next thing I know, there’s a huge damn hole in the wall and Kaede’s slumped against the wall in front of me. To be honest... I’d thought I’d killed her.”

“Then the hole we found next to the side entrance of Sakura’s lab…” Kiyo raised, waiting for one of them to finish the thought. Kaede gave a weak nod.

“Y-yeah. That’s where our fight ended.” The former Ultimate Pianist solemnly confirmed. 

Peko’s expression had hardly shifted since they started, an occasional glance between Kaede and Mondo during each other’s testimony being the only possible hint of what she was thinking. “... I see. What happened after that?”

_ “I tried to murder him,” _ A voice uncomfortably close to her own spat out cruelly. Kaede squeezed her elbow like a child with a stuffed animal, trying to take some solace in the firm pressure. She couldn’t admit that. _ Ever _. No matter how much they deserved the truth of who she was, she refused to let things spiral any further out of her control than they already had. Swallowing down yet another lie of omission, Kaede started to answer the question. “When Mondo swung the dumbbell, I… didn’t realize he missed. I just closed my eyes and waited. I heard it hit something, and I figured that was it. It took me a few seconds to figure out I was still alive, and even then, it didn’t really click until Kaito found us.”

Like clockwork, the gathered students turned their focus to the Ultimate Astronaut, his usually expressive face harboring only a small frown. Celeste let out a small hum, gaze narrowing at Momota with a hint of intrigue. “And once again, you come up. I must admit, I’m rather curious as to your involvement in all this. Has one of your tales of heroics finally come true?”

For once, Kaito didn’t take the bait, the seriousness of their situation outweighing his desire to always have the last word. With only a sideways glare towards the gambler, he offered his side of the story. “Like Kaede said, she ended up staying in her lab and accidentally ditched out on our training session. I figured she was probably getting some sleep, so I went up to our usual spot on the second deck alone, but I started hearing some voices from down the hall. Right after that, someone screamed, and I ran as fast as I could towards it. When I got there, I saw Kaede slumped against the wall and Mondo kneeling down in front of her,” He explained. Grimacing, he put a hand on his hip, looking down at the other as he balled it into a fist. “The second I saw that, all I could think about was making sure she was alright and beating the hell out of him. Kaede talked me out of the second part.”

Leon quirked an eyebrow. “Huh? Seriously? The dude tried to bash your skull in and you were defending him? Isn’t that kinda weird?” He questioned, genuinely puzzled, before a flash of anger soured his expression and he pointed at Celeste. “Before you say anything, this is different and you damn well know that!”

The gambler stared at him in a bland disinterest. “Luckily for you, I happen to be interested as well. Kaede, if you weren’t interested in having Kaito carry out revenge on your behalf, what exactly did you do with Mondo?”

Kaede tried to respond, but found herself hesitating, the words just waiting on the tip of her tongue. It shouldn’t have been that hard compared to everything else she’d had to admit thus far, yet... her gaze drifted to the silent biker, biting her lip uncertainly. Up until now, as much as she wanted to avoid talking about it, she at least felt like it was hers to discuss. Whether Mondo knew it or not, they both nearly died that night. They were both victims of each other with equal claim to it. What they talked about after, though? That was Owada willingly opening up to her, coaxed as it might have been. She risked nothing by admitting it, but to expose his fears and shortcomings like that… after all the lies she’d told to protect her own insecurities, the idea left a foul taste in her mouth. “... Mondo, are you alright if I say what happened?” She asked carefully, trying to meet his eyes.

Mondo scowled slightly, glancing away from her before looking down with a sigh and putting his hands on his hips. “Don’t exactly have a choice here… do whatever ya have to.”

Akamatsu couldn’t help the small frown that came to her. That wasn’t exactly permission, but it wasn’t a refusal either. Still, he seemed to be more or less at peace with what was about to be revealed, so Kaede took it as her sign to continue, though she’d try to keep as many of the details out as she could regardless. “... The reason I didn’t want Kaito to hurt Mondo is because when he was kneeling down, he was begging for forgiveness. He could have finished the job and taken his chances at the trial. As far as he knew, no one else was around. He could have taken another shot, and there’d be nothing I could do to stop him, or even just ran away, but he didn’t. Instead, he was trying to make things right. That’s when I realized that everything he’d done was in a moment of weakness… and I know what that’s like,” Kaede admitted, a knowing tiredness sapping the already frail power out of her tone. Rantaro’s easy going smile flashed through her mind and stabbed her heart like a dagger, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as she clenched her fists. “So, we made a promise together. As long as we’re both alive, we’re going to be there for each other. As long as we do that, we’ll never be that weak again. I lied because I knew there was no way he’d have done this after that.”

Silence reigned over the courtroom. Kaede struggled not to squirm under the intense, wordless gazes of her fellow murderers, forcing herself to remain rigid and firm as a statue no matter what. Her confession ended up sounding a lot more like a speech than she’d wanted, but hopefully that didn’t obscure the fact that each and every word of it was sincere. The worst part of their silence was trying to determine if they believed her or not, the expressions of the other blackened varying greatly from person to person. The first one to voice their thoughts didn’t help much in that regard, either. “A man tried to kill you… and your solution is to make a friendship pact with him.” Celeste summarized in a voice that bordered on disbelief. Her ruby red eyes were hard and discerning, the only hint of emotion on the gambler’s face.

Kaede thinned her lips. “That’s a bad way to put it… but basically, yeah.”

That seemed to spark its own set of reactions, though nowhere near as dramatically as the initial confession. “Hmm… I can’t speak for everyone, but I for one find this fascinating. To show such forgiveness in the face of overwhelming hostility… keheheh, what a beautiful display of humanity...” Kiyo humed out, something about his words making Kaede distinctly uncomfortable.

Clearly she wasn’t the only one as Mondo gave the anthropologist a tired glare. “Could you either stop with the creepy comments or just shut the fuck up?”

“Could you reconsider your behavior? Given what we’ve just spent several minutes going over, it doesn’t seem like an unwarranted course of action.” Korekiyo shot back, the venom in his voice carefully curtailed by his wording. Mondo’s eyes widened with anger as the biker raised a fist and opened his mouth… only to realize he was about to prove the man’s point. Instead, the only response the biker could muster was a dark scowl.

Tsumugi rubbed at her cheek with a somewhat distracted glaze in her eyes. “So this is what it’s like for other people when a shonen protagonist decides to try reforming one of the antagonists… I’ve gotta say, it feels way different in real life. It’s less inspiring optimism and more like borderline suicidal naiveté.”

“I dunno; it usually turns out pretty well. If you just focus on the bad stuff, you’re only seeing the shadow of a person. People have to be given chances to do the right thing. That’s just how we live and learn… I think.” Chiaki offered, certain and genuine until defaulting to that odd verbal tic of hers.

Shirogane’s eyes lit up. “Wow, you managed to make two different references in one go! And such great taste, too! That’s plainly impressive! ”

“I apologize for being blunt, but I don’t believe this is the time for such discussion,” Kirumi lightly scolded with a small frown. It didn’t lessen as she turned to Kaede. If anything, the musician could have sworn it actually deepened for a moment, though the maid retained enough professionalism to quickly hide it if so. “That said… Miss Shirogane’s original assessment is not entirely inaccurate, Kaede. As admirable as your compassion is, even ignoring the danger involved in making that pact in the first place considering what immediately preceded it, your attempts to cover for Mister Owada have put yourself and everyone else here at risk by derailing the trial. I know you never meant for that, but it has happened all the same.”

Kaede cringed guiltily at Kirumi’s pointed words. “I know, and I’m truly sorry I ever let things get out of hand. I didn’t want to lie to you guys, but I knew this would be exactly what happened if we told the truth,” She apologized almost pleadingly, shaking her head with a sigh. “Trust me, I know how it looks, but I know for a fact that Mondo didn’t do this.”

“You say that with quite a bit of certainty. Is there anything that backs that up?” Peko pressed.

Kaito piped up before she had the chance to respond. “Yeah! When we got back to the dorms, Mondo gave Kaede his monopad so we could lock his door. Er, not that we thought he was going to do anything, of course. I trust my sidekicks with my life, and that means there’s no way he woulda tried something after Kaede stopped him the first time!” The Ultimate Astronaut somewhat awkwardly added once he realized what his first statement implied.

“U-um… I-I have a question. P-please don’t hate me for this, b-but… didn’t you agree with Kaede last time too?” Mikan shyly pointed out, tears already welling in her eyes when the mentioned pair turned to face her. “N-nevermind! I-it doesn’t matter-!”

Kaede shook her head, biting her lip to conceal a small frown. “No, I understand what you mean. Kaito went along with my lie last time, so you don’t know if he’s telling the truth now, right?” She asked somewhat warily, knowing full well that was the answer and more so trying to get the nurse to admit as much instead of backing down out of fear.

Tsumiki wrung her hands fretfully, shamefaced. “S-sorry... I-I r-really do believe you! I-I just want everyone else to, b-but they’ll want proof, a-and…” Almost perfectly on cue, the lavender-haired girl began crying, her greyish-purple irises watery and pleading for forgiveness.

“H-hey, don’t cry! We’re not upset!” Kaede attempted to comfort, holding her hands up in front of her. A quick glance to Kaito proved that he was more confused than anything, the boy clearly taken off guard by Mikan’s sudden outburst.

“As she says. There is no point in tears over what must be done,” Sakura sagely offered. Her gaze shifted to Kaede, her eyes holding no clear preference for believing the ex-pianist or not. “And the need for evidence is absolute. If this is indeed the truth, there must be something to confirm it. Do you have anything of the kind?”

Kaede paused for a moment. Kaito could definitely vouch for what happened, but the others clearly didn’t rank his word all that higher than hers at this point. _ “Is there anything shows for sure what happened? There wouldn’t be any sort of evidence we could’ve left behind… no one else was in the hall, so they couldn’t have seen us… wait a second!” _Akamatsu’s eyes widened slightly as her mind raced back to one particular piece of testimony everyone agreed was fact. “Yes, actually. There is something that backs up our story. Isn’t that right, Teruteru?”

The chef blinked at her. “Huh? Er… you did say my name, right? I’m sorry to say I don’t really know what you’re talking about…”

Kaede shook her head. “Maybe not directly, but there’s something you said earlier that confirms it. You said you saw Mondo in my room last night on the map, right?” She reminded, a bit of her earlier confidence returning to her.

Tsumugi raised a finger with a furrowed brow. “Erm, doesn’t that actually go against what you’re saying? He plainly couldn’t have been in two places at once. Unless... hey, have you mastered the art of Bunshin no Jutsu?!”

“Bun- what the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Mondo bluntly refuted in total bewilderment.

Akamatsu paused for a moment, equally thrown off by the cosplayer’s strange remark. “Uh… I doubt that part. But you’re partially right; that would contradict what I’m saying… if the monopads tracked _ people _.”

Gonta inquisitively tilted his head to the side like a puppy. “Huh? Monopads don’t track people? But… pad shows where friends are, doesn’t it?”

Chiaki’s eyes lit up with comprehension. “Actually, I think I get it. You’re talking about what Monokuma said about the pads, right?”

“You sound like Monokuma told you something we didn’t hear. Would you mind elaborating on that?” Celeste prompted, a purposefully posed fist masking her expression.

The Ultimate Gamer tapped a finger against her chin. “While we were investigating the body, we had trouble finding Hifumi’s monopad. When Monokuma showed up, he said that the monopads can’t track things that don’t exist. Since Hifumi’s body was still right there, we realized it can’t be tracking people, or else it would have shown him as being in the lab. If it wasn’t tracking us directly, there’s only **one thing it could be using for the map**.”

Teruteru’s beady eyes grew in size as he picked up on what they were saying. “Hey, I think I get it now! You’re saying that our pads are tracking each other, right?”

“Correct! Not all that impressive, seeing as how Miss Nanami basically had to spell it out for you, but still. B-minus for effort!” Monokuma chirped with a wink.

Ignoring the amoral animatronic, Peko quickly deduced the main point they were getting at. “So that’s your proof. Mondo appeared to be in your room last night because you still had his pad, and there’d be no reason for you to have it unless Mondo gave it to you as Kaito said.”

Sakura closed her eyes in thought. “I see... that would explain the supposed malfunction with Mondo’s door. It wasn’t opening because only Kaede had the key, and she was on the second deck at the time…”

“S-so that means Kaede and Kaito are d-definitely telling the truth, right?” Mikan suggested, visibly delighted by the turn of events.

Kirumi cupped her chin in thought. “Going over each step of it, this sequence of events would certainly explain many of the inconsistencies we’ve encountered thus far. Kaede was in her lab until at least eleven-ten PM as Miss Shirogane observed, giving grounds for requesting a cleaning the following morning. At the same time, Mister Owada was beginning his search for Mister Yamada. When they eventually encountered each other and got into their struggle, Mister Owada struck the wall by the side entrance of the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab, and ultimately surrendered his monopad. As an unintended consequence, it appeared as if Mister Owada spent the night in Kaede’s room, hence the contradiction Mister Hanamura pointed out,” Tojo explained calmly and succinctly to the class, making sure to demonstrate how each key point of Kaede’s explanation matched up with the pitfalls of her earlier lies. Once she finished, she folded her hands in her lap with a bow of her head. It was nearly impossible to tell with the distance between them, but Kaede could have sworn there was the slightest hint of a smile on the maid’s face as she gave her exonerating remarks. “I see no contradictions between the events they have described and what we know as fact. As such, I believe it is safe to believe it’s the truth.”

A relieved sigh escaped Akamatsu as the words sunk in for the gathered students. It was obvious her credibility had still taken a major blow, as most of their gazers were considerably cooler and warier than before -some even being flat-out glares- but it was still a marked improvement from her earlier situation. A couple were even still on her side if Mikan and Kirumi’s reactions were anything to go by. Tsumugi still didn’t look that pleased with her, but the bluenette gained a small smile as she looked towards Mikan. “Actually, now that I think about it, the fact that Mondo wasn’t in Kaede’s room means my ship isn’t sunk just yet! You’re still in luck, Mikan!”

Tsumiki’s delighted grin vanished instantly, eyes bulging out in pure terror as her face flushed. “Wh-haaaaa?! Wh-why do you keep saying things like that?!”

Celeste didn’t bother humoring their banter or even looking at Kaede, instead glancing off to the side as she flicked at her hair with an almost bored expression. “Excellent. After half an hour of debate, we’ve arrived at the exact point we would have if they were simply truthful to begin with. Truly a wise use of our precious time.”

Peko set her jaw. “I don’t disagree, but bickering over blame won’t bring us any closer to identifying the culprit before time runs out.”

Kaede glanced away guiltily, but forced herself to nod. “Peko’s right. I know I have a lot to answer for, and I promise I will, but we have to make it through this trial first. I think we have most of the case figured out by now, so it’s mostly a matter of finding out which one of us could have done everything we know the killer did. The first part of that is considering where everyone was last night,” The blonde explained, crossing her arms in thought. “... Hmm… just to be sure, I think we should go over our alibis again. At this point, I don’t think anyone but the killer has something to hide, so we just have to see what doesn’t match up.”

“Um… is that really necessary at this point?” Tsumugi hesitantly asked with a frown as the cosplayer glanced slightly to her right. “I mean, it plainly seems like the culprit is already pretty obvious…”

Kaito’s fists slammed together, the harsh crack of his knuckles colliding reverberating through the courtroom like distant thunder. “Seriously?! Weren’t you paying attention? We already proved Mondo innocent!”

“Not exactly, Kaito. We concluded that your sequence of events was plausible, but that alone doesn’t rule out Mondo as a culprit,” Korekiyo countered, waggling his finger like a professor scolding an overeager student. “There are still a handful of possibilities where he is indeed the one behind Hifumi’s death. Until those are addressed, I am unwilling to take him off the table.”

Mondo’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Do you seriously think I’d try anything after what happened with Kaede?” Owada questioned, voice low and warning as his eyes narrowed into a glare.

“We cannot know anything for sure without evidence. Character alone is hardly proof, especially in our situation. If there is nothing for you to hide, then there is no reason for you to object to this line of questioning. You do intend to be honest with us now, yes?” Celeste challenged in a tone far too innocent to be genuine.

The biker turned his dark glower on her, opening his mouth to respond before ultimately giving up on any response beyond a low growl. Kaede’s lips thinned as her eyes drifted between Mondo’s three accusers, brow furrowing as a touch of worry returned to her. _ “Out of the fire, but right back to the frying pan… how exactly do they think Mondo could have killed Hifumi after our testimony? It should’ve been impossible for him to leave, shouldn't it…?” _The ametuer investigator thought to herself, and with that, the next round of debate broke out.

**NONSTOP DEBATE: ** ** _START!_ **

“Kaede claims that Mondo was in his room **all of last night**,” Korekiyo began, opening his eyes and giving a wave of his hand. “But we don’t know that for certain.”

Kaito looked quizzically at the anthropologist through narrowed eyes. “What are you talking about, man? Kaede locked the door **right in front of me**! There’s no way Mondo could’ve gotten out!”

Tsumugi held up a finger. “What about the **outdoor balconies **everyone has?”

“The what? Since when did we have those?” Leon asked in visible bewilderment.

“They have been accessible through the bathrooms since the first night here,” Kirumi pointed out, eyebrow quirked slightly. “I had assumed _ everyone was aware _of them after exploring their cabins.”

Kaede shyly raised a hand. “Um, to be honest, I didn’t know about those either.”

“Ah! I think I know what happened!” Tsumugi confidently declared, eyes bright as she pointed dramatically towards Mondo. “After Kaede locked your door, you _ used your shinobi skills to run up the side of the boat _!”

Mondo stared at her uncomprehendingly. “... Wh… are you fuckin’ with me?”

“Profanity aside, I’m inclined to agree,” Kiyo intoned somewhat dismissively, shooting an unimpressed look at Shirogane. “While not impossible, scaling the outside of the ship is certainly implausible. What I’m primarily referring to is the fact that either Kaede or Monokuma could have ** _unlocked his door _ **at any point.”

“Huh? Hey, why the hell would she’ve done that? Did you forget what happened or somethin’?” Owada demanded.

The Ultimate Anthropologist let out a small hum. “I can think of a few reasons, but those can wait until the possibility is addressed.”

Teruteru’s head perked up at that. “But if Kaede did that, then what about what I saw on the map? You’re not saying they actually did get together, are you?” The chef asked in complete seriousness, until a lurid smirk began crossing his features. “That mask of yours tells me you have ideas, but I’m **not sure they’re that freaky**…”

“**Please don’t sink my ship**!” Tsumugi desperately blurted out in clear dismay.

Korekiyo scowled at the portly cook. “Teruteru, if you say something like that again, I’m afraid I’ll have to _ tear out your nerves _,” Shinguji all but growled, his yellow eyes fierce and cold as Hanamura paled under his gaze. “As for your point, he wouldn’t have had to get his monopad back for someone to open his door.”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede cupped her chin thoughtfully as she looked towards her lanky classmate. “Hang on, Kiyo. You sound pretty sure when you say someone could have unlocked Mondo’s door, but I don’t think that’s right.”

The anthropologist matched her gaze with conserved intrigue. “Is that so? Then please, do elaborate. I’m curious to see your rationale.”

Somehow, the excitement Korekiyo displayed at the idea of being proven wrong was more worrisome than if he was simply earnest in his belief that Mondo was the culprit. Setting that slight discomfort aside, Kaede went straight to the point. “Like you said, there’s only two people that could have unlocked Mondo’s door after I took his monopad. I know I didn’t let Mondo out last night, and Teruteru’s testimony proves it was still in my room after I fell asleep, so no one could have stolen it. That leaves Monokuma… but we already know he didn’t do it.”

“My my, what a confident declaration. I assume you have more than bravado to prove your point, however?” Ludenberg chirped, her carefully maintained expression allowing just a hint of interest through.

Kaede held up a finger as she launched into her investigation. “I do, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that this will clear things up. Think back to earlier in the trial when we were talking about the doors to Sakura’s lab. Before we figured out that each door works on its own, Monokuma made it clear that he **did** **not **mess with any of the doors. Since we know that Mondo’s door was still locked this morning until he let him out after the body discovery announcement, that means Mondo’s door was locked all night after we split up. If he couldn’t have gotten out of his room, then there’s no way he could have killed Hifumi!” The former Ultimate Pianist proudly declared.

The way the eyes of her fellow blackened widened with realization almost perfectly in sync made her chest swell with satisfaction. In the heat of the moment, it was almost fun in a way, loath as she was to admit it. She could practically see the gears turning in everyone’s heads as they took in the information and tried to find any possible holes in it. To her relief, it became rapidly apparent that they couldn’t find any as even some of the more problematic students began to concede her point.

“... Actually… huh, that does make sense…” Leon admitted, scratching at his head with a thoughtful expression.

Gundham crossed his arms as he closed his eyes. “Hmm… if the Siren cast a sealing hex upon his door, then it would be all but impossible for a lowly mortal such as him to challenge such a spell. Though he may have sworn to spill the blood of Hifumi, there is little Mondo could do to act upon that bloodlust without an escape.”

Chiaki smiled lightly. “And since the doors are controlled with the monopads, that means there’s no keyholes that could be picked, so Mondo definitely couldn’t have unlocked it from the inside. If he couldn’t force the lock, Monokuma didn’t change it, and Kaede left it alone, then there's no way he could have left the room. So… I think all this means Kaede’s right, and Mondo can’t be the culprit.”

Tsumugi rubbed at her cheek with a hum. “So he really didn’t do it… I thought it might’ve been a double twist of the most obvious culprit actually being the culprit because no one would expect it, but I guess that’s a bit too tropey for real life, huh?”

Kaito grinned brightly as he gave Kaede a thumbs up. “Just like we’ve been saying this whole time! There’s no way one of my sidekicks would do anything like that! Nice job proving it, Kaede!”

Mondo’s lips thinned, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I told ya I wasn’t the killer…” He grumbled with a hint of bitterness. After a moment, he let out a huff and shook his head. “But with everything else that happened, I guess I can’t blame ya, either… whatever. Long as we’re on the same page about this, I don’t really give a shit.”

“Hold on. I think we’re overlooking something here,” Peko cut in suddenly, her arms folded and gaze neutral but firm. “Monokuma said he didn’t meddle with the doors… but that was specifically in the context of the investigation. Your story seems plausible, but the only proof we have is a rather vague statement. We haven’t ruled out the possibility that his door was unlocked _ before _that point, unlikely as Kaede is to have done so.”

Kaito frowned at her, resting a hand on his hip. “C’mon, seriously, Peko? It’s obvious he didn’t do it!”

Pekoyama’s gaze hardened. “And shortly before that, it was ‘obvious’ that he did. I do not feel comfortable ruling out suspects on what seems obvious or not. With our lives on the line, we cannot afford to take even small possibilities lightly.”

Kirumi tilted her head with a small frown. “I can understand that concern, Miss Pekoyama, but how precisely are we to determine if Monokuma or Kaede did such a thing? We don’t have sufficient proof to rule one way over the other.”

Chiaki’s brow furrowed, a calculating expression on her face as she folded her hands together. “... Well, there is someone that knows for sure. After all, if anyone knew, it’d be you, right, Monokuma?”

Kaede failed to contain her mild surprise. _ “Wait, is she going to just ask him? That worked with the sword, but I don’t think he’s going to make things that easy on us again in the same trial… I kind of hope you have a plan if this doesn’t work out, Chiaki…” _

Monokuma tilted his head enough that he was almost leaning his entire upper body. “Hm? Know what?” He asked, making it clear from the get go that we intended to play dumb. Kaede’s thin layer of patience for their bear instantly evaporated as she crossed her arms warningly.

“Don’t waste our time, Monokuma. We both know Mondo’s door was locked last night. You want your stupid trial to go on, right? Then just admit no one touched it so we can get past this.”

“Hm? But why would I do that?” The monochrome creature questioned, sounding almost genuinely confused if not for the slight trace of sadism in his voice. “If that was the case, then I’d basically be giving you a freebie by taking a suspect off the table. If it’s not, then that makes things pretty obvious, and that’d make the trial pretty boring for me. Sorry, kiddos, but you’re getting no help from me this time. Figure this one out for yourselves!”

The wave of outrage hit immediately and harshly. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?!” Mondo cursed, shaking a fist at their eccentric captor. His wasn’t the only reaction, but it was by far the loudest and the best summation of the room overall. Glowers warped the faces of nearly every student gathered to some extent, even if it came across as more cute than intimidating on some of them like Chiaki. Despite their glares, Monokuma was more than pleased with the sudden attention, happily patting his belly with a grin.

“Nope! In fact, I’m just about the farthest thing from kidding! I might throw you guys the odd bone or two, but you’ll never be prepared for the dark, despairing realities of adulthood and the outside world if I do all the work for you! It’d be simply irresponsible of me as your headmaster to not make you work for yourselves a little! Too bad! Now, seeing as how there’s only…” He made a show of looking at his wrist, checking a watch that didn’t exist. “Yeesh, a pretty short amount of time left, I recommend you stop arguing with me and start arguing with your buddies! Your lives depend on it, after all… puhuhuhu!”

Kaede’s glare darkened, her hands balling into fists as an anger only that damned bear was capable of bringing out flared up in her chest. “You’re awful, you know that?” She hissed out. Monokuma only grinned wider in response, feeding into her frustration even more. Before she could wind herself up too much, however, someone else went for a gamble.

“I don’t think he’s going to budge on this…” Chiaki noted lamentfully with a frown. However, it didn’t quite seem to reach the gamer’s eyes, a calculating if slightly cautious glint in her pink irises clashing with her crestfallen voice. “I guess we’ll just have to figure it out without him. Besides, doing it that way might be better, I think...” Nanami said cryptically as she reached up and pulled her hoodie over her head. “Since he could just lie to us if he wanted.”

Kaede’s eyebrow shot up in confusion, a puzzled address waiting just on the tip of her tongue. _ “Huh? What are you talking about? Monokuma’s a monster, but I don’t think he’s ever-” _ She prepared to say right up until the moment she locked eyes with Nanami. An an instant, Chiaki’s unspoken plan clicked in her mind, and she understood exactly what the other girl was going for. _ “...! I get it! So this is how you’re going to make him tell the truth… okay, Chiaki. I’ll follow your lead here.” _

“... Lying…?” An uncharacteristically bland voice softly said from high above. Kaede glanced over to see Monokuma sitting unnervingly still in his throne, all hints of joy wiped from his face in favor of a quiet, simmering outrage. “... Lying?” He repeated, a touch more forcefully this time. She could see his animatronic features slowly shifting into a snarl, his button eye seeming to narrow at the pink-haired Ultimate.

Akamatsu took the opportunity to stir the pot a little further, crossing her arms and closing her eyes in mock-thought. “Hmm… I guess that’s true. I mean, we’re assuming he even knows everything that happens here, but that could be an act too, right?” She added, barely able to keep from smiling cruelly at the sound of his increasingly infuriated growl. Opening her eyes, she added the last straw, practically just for the sake of insult to injury at this point. “In fact, maybe he’s so desperate for us to figure it out because he doesn’t know. It’s not like some dumb bear could solve a murder, after all.”

It was at that exact moment that Kaede knew she opened the floodgates as an enraged roar of outrage rang out, the bear’s ominous red eye glowed a threatening red. “_Excuse_ _me_?! Is this some sort of sick gag?! You’re accusing your near and dear captain, the impartial judge and executioner of our little game, the one and only Monokuma himself, not only of being incompetent, but of _lying_?!” He growled out, his high pitched voice managing to sound intimidating simply through the sheer anger carried within it. A fierce growl thundered from their demented headmaster as he threw his arms up in the air, red in the face and claws shooting out of his paws. They glinted sharply in the red lighting, Kaede unable to help but notice the uncanny resemblance it bore to blood stains at certain angles. “How _dare _you?! _Bears do not lie_! It’s one of the reasons we’re inherently superior to people! I say what I mean and mean what I say! And what’s this rubbish about me not knowing everything that goes on on this boat?! I’m your captain for Pete’s sake! Of course I do! I… I… gah, I’m so _angry _right now! If I weren’t a stickler for the rules I made, I’d punish you two for this horrible slander right here and now!”

“So when you say you didn’t meddle with the doors at all, you mean it?” Chiaki lightly pressed, casting a line out and waiting for Monokuma to take the bait. Fortunately for her, he was more than willing to do just that.

“Of course I do! I only bothered unlocking his door because attendance of the trial is mandatory and you kept insisting he join the investigation! Frankly, I’d have been fine leaving him in there to starve to death if it meant a murder technically happened!”

Kaede picked up on his slip in an instant, her eyes narrowing at the bear as she put in the killing blow of Nanami’s trap. “So you’re saying the lock on Mondo’s door stayed completely the same from last night until you touched it this morning?”

“Grr, aren’t you listening?! Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying this whole-” The bear suddenly stopped, freezing in place as if someone had ripped out his batteries. He sat there dead and lifeless as a normal teddy bear for several moments before he finally let out a sigh. “... Oh, dang it.”

Kaede didn’t waste a second. “So it’s true, then. No one touched Mondo’s door after I locked it last night, and we can be absolutely sure that it stayed that way until the moment Monokuma opened it this morning. In other words, it’s impossible for him to have escaped his room,” Akamatsu asserted, her confidence building up and carrying her forward like a train’s momentum as she thrust an accusing finger directly towards Monokuma. “So there’s no doubt about it: Mondo isn’t the killer in this case!”

With Monokuma’s slip of the tongue, what she knew with such certainty in her heart was finally an undeniable fact. The sudden turnabout had clearly shocked even the ones on her side as Kirumi’s visible eye widened slightly with realization while Mondo himself looked positively stunned, though that much might have been on account of tricking Monokuma into confessing the truth. Kaito was grinning ear to ear with his fist pumped victoriously. “Ha! How about _ that _, Monokuma? You shoulda learned by now that you don’t stand against me and my sidekicks!”

“... What exactly did you do during all this?” Tsumugi quietly asked aloud, brow furrowed and finger wilting slightly even as she held it questioningly at Kaito. As always, the plain girl was immediately ignored, becoming just another part of the background. Even Kaede barely noticed her muttered objection, much too focused on the case and the boost of confidence she suddenly felt to bother noticing her cosplaying friend slightly tightening her jaw as her words went promptly forgotten.

Part of what was distracting from the bluenette was the uncharacteristically silent Monokuma as he glared down at Chiaki without a hint of his trademark sadistic glee. The robot looked almost genuinely terrifying simply from his unspoken smoldering rage. Instead of launching into another outburst, however, he let out a long and weary sigh. “Alright, fine, you got me on that one, but don’t expect that to happen again! Gamer brains aren’t to be underestimated, but neither are bear brains. Besides, that’s just poor conduct on your part! Fool me once, I’m mad. Fool me twice, how could you. Fool me three times, you’re officially _ that _guy. You know the one; walks into the trial like-”

“Oh, would you just put a sock in it?! Stop trying to distract from what matters here!” Kaede interrupted impatiently. 

Before Monokuma could try butting in again, the Ultimate Gambler moved to cut him off. “Agreed. Your inane rambling is becoming bothersome. If you wish for this trial to progress, perhaps you should let us actually discuss our findings.”

The black and white monster seemed to glower at her for a long moment before simply leaning back in his throne with a sigh. “Kids today have no taste… fine, go ahead. I’ll just get nice and comfy and watch this play out,” He grumpily conceded with a lazy wave of his paw. Kaede almost didn’t hear the muttered comment he let slip under his breath. “_ At least it’s not a _ ** _total_ ** _ rerun… _”

Akamatsu perked up at that comment, her magenta eyes locking with Monokuma’s in confusion. He sat so still and nonchalant that she almost assumed she didn’t actually hear it, but why would she imagine him saying something like that of all things? She wouldn’t get the chance to confront him on it, however, as Kirumi stepped up to take the reins of the trial before the ex-pianist could say anything. “I’m uncertain if there’s anything left to discuss of this matter. We have direct confirmation from Monokuma that the locks were not tampered with in any way, and given the lack of any other plausible escape routes, Kaede’s assertion is simply the most logical. Despite my… misgivings with Mister Owada’s actions, at this point, it’s undeniable that he is not the killer.”

Peko gave a nod of agreement. “I am convinced. Though the timing is certainly suspect, that much can be boiled down to coincidence given the rest of the evidence… or, perhaps, something more ominous than that.”

Kaede shot the swordswoman a puzzling look. “More ominous…?”

“That perhaps Hifumi dying on the same night Mondo tried to kill him wasn’t simply a stroke of fantastically poor luck, but an intentional and decisive choice in victim made specifically with framing him in mind,” Celeste said, her ruby eyes gleaming with… something, sending a distinctly uncomfortable feeling down Kaede’s spine. The feeling wasn’t helped by the small predatory smile that tugged at the gambler’s lips. “I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who came to that conclusion. It would certainly explain many of the more peculiar factors of this case, after all. Killing Hifumi in the first place, planting his body in the piano lab, going through the extra effort of caving in his skull… each of those strange decisions takes on a very different light when we consider the possibility that the killer knew about Mondo’s intentions and his near-murder of Kaede, does it not?”

“Holy shit…” Mondo murmured, a stunned look on his face. A similar state of surprise was evident in a fair number of the other gathered students, with Kaede as one of the notable exceptions. Her lips only thinned in response as the dreadful suspicion she’d held onto since the start was not only confirmed, but expanded upon. It was far from comforting to know that the culprit definitely knew about their fight somehow. She wouldn’t stop her pursuit of the truth for anything, but the knowledge that something she’d done had once again contributed to a death -and that the one behind it was hidden somewhere among her friends and peers- was yet another regret weighing down on her heart.

Apparently her reaction didn’t go unnoticed as Korekiyo suddenly addressed her. “... You suspected as much, didn’t you, Kaede?” He said, less a question or an accusation as much as a confident statement of fact. He ran a pair of bandaged fingers along the brim of his hat. “When you noticed the dumbbell in Sakura’s lab, I thought your reaction was rather strange, but I understand it now. You were unsettled because you knew the killer must have somehow been aware of it.”

The former Ultimate Pianist grimaced slightly, but didn’t bother denying it. “... Yeah. I definitely thought it was weird, but,” A guilty and mirthless parody of a smile ghosted across Akamatsu’s face. “I couldn’t really tell anyone why. But, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I definitely think the killer knew exactly what happened. I don’t know how, exactly, but there’s way too many coincidences for them not to know something.”

Mikan nervously tapped her fingers together, half-grimacing before even proposing her idea. “Um… s-so, if we figure out who exactly knew about your fight, th-then we’ll know who the killer is?” The nurse asked somewhat hopefully despite the clear hesitance in her voice.

Kirumi cupped a gloved thumb over her chin. “That would certainly give us a good idea of who tampered with Hifumi’s body, at the very least. Even if they aren’t one in the same, they likely know who the culprit is.”

“Then what’re we waiting for?! Let’s find the bastard already!” Leon roared, raising both fists for emphasis.

Sakura shook her head slightly with a hint of a frown. “But that’s the problem we’ve been facing this entire time. Because of when Hifumi was killed, few people here have an alibi, and only Mondo has one we can be certain of. Even after all this debate, we’ve only been able to rule out one person. We need some way of narrowing down the list of suspects with a degree of certainty before we can proceed any further.”

The familiar feeling of uncertainty once again settled over Kaede as she found herself faced with yet another difficult decision. It wasn’t the same as the smothering, cold sensation she had when she lied about Mondo’s alibi, but it weighed on her just as heavily, a reminder that she was on the precipice of the point of no return. There would be no coming back from the admission she was about to make… and no way to avoid the inevitable blow to her already deeply fractured credibility in everyone’s eyes. At the same time, it was clear that trying to go any further without presenting the evidence she’d been keeping secret this whole time was a hopeless endeavor. Kaede closed her eyes, taking one last long, steadying breath, and crossed the boundary. “... I think I have just what we’re looking for.”

Without bothering to wait for anyone to respond, the leader reached into her backpack and soon after pulled out Hifumi’s sketchbook. “While we were investigating Hifumi’s room, we didn’t just find the fake sword. He kept a journal talking about both killing games he was in, and the last entry is pretty serious. It doesn’t name anyone in specific, but it’s pretty clear that he found out something bad about someone here. I can’t say for certain, but… I think he tried to confront whoever he’s talking about here, and they killed him for it.”

Celeste gave her a hard stare, her piercing red eyes narrowing bitterly. “Excuse me, Kaede. Did you forget the terms of our agreement? I specifically asked you to share whatever evidence you found with me first _ specifically _ so that I could have an understanding of them before the trial began. If I did, perhaps I would have realized Mondo’s innocence sooner and all of that discussion could have been avoided. Yet, not only did you _ not _ do that, but you bring up this potentially game-changing information after nearly _ two hours _of debate?” Ludenberg demanded, barely restricted discontent bleeding into her artificially polite tone. Her coldly furious gaze shifted to Kaito and Mondo soon after. “And the two of you didn’t say a word about this for what reason, precisely?”

Each of them scowled at her, Owada gaining a sneer while Momota slammed his fists together angrily. “Seriously, after the crap you pulled with Tsumugi?! You don’t get to-”

“Because I asked them not to,” Kaede shamefully admitted before he could go any farther, sighing and frowning deeply as she bowed her head deferentially. “Before anyone says anything, I agree with you. It was wrong of me to lie about this and worse to make them do it too. But… I didn’t bring it up for the same reason Celeste didn’t mention what Tsumugi told her: I couldn’t risk the killer finding out what we knew and figuring out a way around it before we had the chance to bring it up. Even if you don’t agree with it, I think you’ll get why once you see what I’m talking about.”

Peko started at her with an unreadable expression, her thoughts perfectly hidden behind her eyes. At last, the swordswoman spoke. “We can argue about the validity of that later. For now, our focus should be on finding the culprit, and that book is our next best step towards that. Show us what it says.”

A general assenting murmur followed Peko’s wise compromise, causing Kaede to nod and open the book up. After a moment of deliberating how exactly to share the information so they could verify it for themselves, a glance at the giant monitors still waiting above gave her an idea, reluctant as she was to actually follow through on it. “Okay... Monokuma, is there a camera or something that can show what’s on the page and put it on the monitors? It’s important everyone can see exactly what this says.”

The black and white bear made a big show of rubbing a paw against his nonexistent chin. “Hmm… I don’t really have a drop down camera rigged up to the system… but Monokuma is nothing if not resourceful! Yoink!” He gleefully called out as a metal claw suddenly shot down from the ceiling and clamped down on the book, tearing it out of her hands and rushing it to Monokuma before she could even realize what was happening. Hifumi’s journal plopped down into his waiting paws moments later, their self-described captain briefly letting go of one end to tap his stubby fingerless hand against his noggin a few times. “Razzle dazzle, hocus pocus, alakazam!” He suddenly shouted out, a strange, low hum of static seeming to emit from all around the room as his misshapen eye began to glow a faint but steady red. Instantly, the dormant monitors came to life, all displaying the faintly rose-colored footage of Yamada’s final entry. “Testing, testing… ah, good! Looks like that worked after all!”

Kaede stared at him with wide eyes. “H-huh?! Wait, how long have you been able to do that?”

Monokuma shrugged a little, the movement mirroring in the broadcast just as soon as he did it. “Well, since at least right now, apparently. I’m still kinda working out the kinks with this whole thing since I usually don’t bother with it. Back in my day, students were fine just passing evidence around to each other during trials, you know…” He joked irrelevantly, clearly trying to distract from his apparent new ability. Kaede could only stare at him, trying to figure out how exactly he was managing that. His casual displays of power on the ship had definitely been more dramatic than his fairly subdued shows back at the academy, but whether that was a change in attitude or ability was a complete mystery to the former pianist… one that she could already tell was going to trouble her deeply. Without bothering to hear any protests, Monokuma grinned widely, mockingly putting a paw over his chest. “Now then, while all of you should be able to see this, your kind and generous captain has decided to grace you all with a free sample of my upcoming career in audio books by giving a dramatic reading of Mister Yamada’s latest -and last- diary entry!” The bear enthusiastically declared. His clear enjoyment didn’t seem to falter at the handful of groans and much larger amount of dirty looks that earned him.

“Oh… audio books make me kinda sleepy…” Chiaki murmured, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. Those nearby merely glanced over to give her a flat look for a moment while most ignored the comment entirely as they silently started reading over the page without Monokuma’s narration.

“Well, try not to fall asleep during this one, or you might end up doing it with the nice fish outside this ship! Or do; I get to watch something really special either way! But enough of that, let’s get to my debut! Ahem, lessee… ‘** _I can’t believe it_ **…’”

He proceeded to read out the entire page just as promised, his squeaky voice grating on their collective nerves and dragging out what took maybe forty seconds for most of them to read through into an almost five minute ordeal. Kaede didn’t bother listening to his prattling, instead running over the letter again and again in her mind for anything she might have missed the first time. Still, no matter how many times she thought through it, only the same key details came to mind, and with them, the same handful of potential killers. It was like a stab to her heart to even consider any of them as the one behind all of it, but no matter what, she couldn’t deny that it and the rest of the evidence meant it only could have been one of them. One of her dear friends not only murdered Hifumi, but went out of their way to frame her and Mondo for it, willing to kill them and everyone else on the ship just to escape. It was horrible, unforgivable, unbelievable… yet absolutely true. 

Once he finished his excessively dramatic narration of the diary, the monitors once again flicked off as his eye slowly returned to normal before Monokuma finally fell silent long enough for someone to retake control of the discussion. “... Poor Hifumi…” Tsumugi said mournfully, her brow furrowed and eyes full of sadness.

Celeste hummed, her expression unreadable in light of the new information. “Poor Hifumi indeed… well then. That’s rather decisive, isn’t it?”

Kaede crossed her arms in response, addressing the others with an odd mix of guilt and determination. “It is, and that’s why I didn’t want anyone else knowing about it for as long as possible. If the culprit knew anyone else was aware of this thing, they would’ve had time to think of ways around it. Springing it on them this late in the trial insured that there’d be no way for them to run. That’s what I was thinking when I decided to hide the journal.”

“Our bad for lying, guys, but it wasn’t to screw anyone over. Well, ‘cept the killer, I guess...” Kaito apologized as he distractedly rubbed at his hair.

To her mild surprise, Gonta was the first to respond, a bright glint in his eye as he raised a finger. “Gonta think Gonta understand. Kaede’s plan sound kind of like how Gonta use traps sometimes to catch bugs. Timing has to be just right, or bugs get away!”

The blonde managed an encouraging smile, considerably duller than her usual beams given the regret she had over doing it at all, but the message was the same. “Yeah, just like that, Gonta. I figured this book was our best shot, and we all know how important it is that this ‘bug’ doesn’t get past us.”

A raspy chuckle hissed out, fading into a hum as Korekiyo began to speak. “Complicated plans and unwitting accomplices, Kaede? It seems old habits… ah, perhaps that expression is in poor taste,” He mused, his mask shifting slightly as the telltale mark of his hidden smirk. He closed his eyes with a shake of his head, folding his arms and holding out an open palm. “But, that’s beside the matter at hand. More to the point, I believe there’s quite a bit that can be gleaned from the final words of our late _ dōjinshi _.”

“The masked one speaks wisely. It seems almost impossible that whomever Hifumi sought to confront is but a mere observer in this case. To be the focus of such distilled fury by the victim, and yet be completely uninvolved? Nay, I say! I assert that the fiend behind this foul deed is the very same that the victim sought to render his judgement upon!” Tanaka boomed, his mismatched eyes narrowed in absolute certainty.

“It would certainly make sense for the culprit and the person on this tape to be one in the same in terms of explaining all the effort put into framing Mister Owada and Kaede. It would also give a reason for why the victim went to the second floor so late at night if he was confronting them as he planned,” Kirumi added. The maid closed her eyes with a slight frown on her face as she continued. “As to who exactly that is… well, the entry alone rules out half of everyone here by default. Considering how Mister Yamada described our unnamed suspect, it’s also likely she is someone for whom he had a considerable amount of respect and fondness for before discovering whatever was revealed in her tape. That doesn’t necessarily exclude anyone in particular, however.”

Kaede took a small breath as she faced the moment she’d been dreading since she first found the notebook. All this time and evidence, yet she still hadn’t been able to completely rule out any of the key suspects she’d had in mind since heading into the trial. It was a painful confirmation of the fact that she was right, no matter how much she wished she wasn’t, but delaying the inevitable would only make it hurt that much worse. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot since I found the journal, and I think I know how we can narrow it down some more. Hifumi mentioned that whoever he’s talking about pretends to help people, right?” She pointed out, waving a hand to the side. “No offense, you two, but Peko and Sakura are kind of loners. I don’t think he’d say something like that if he meant one of the people keeping to themselves the most.”

“Hey, that’s great! Congrats on getting in the clear, sidekick!” Kaito cheerily piped up, offering the Ultimate Swordswoman a thumbs-up with a mile-wide grin.

“I… thank you,” Peko reluctantly said, initially looking like she was going to object yet again to Momota’s perpetual nickname before seemingly giving up on the futile effort. Glancing towards the blonde, the bespectacled warrior’s gaze turned slightly curious. “It’s no small feat that we’ve gone from fifteen suspects to six, but is there anyone else that can be ruled out, Kaede?”

Akamatsu nodded confirmingly. “I think so. Like Kirumi pointed out, the way he talks about this person makes it pretty clear he considered himself friends with her before viewing her tape. We can’t know for sure if that was reciprocal, but that’s definitely the impression he was under. Chiaki, Mikan, and Kirumi, did Hifumi try to spend much time with any of you?”

Nanami gave a small shake of her head. “Not really. He invited me to the anime party the other day, but other than that, we didn’t talk very much. I was hoping to try some games with him, but…”

Chiaki trailed off, letting the silence speak for her. Satisfied with the answer, everyone’s focus shifted to Mikan instead, the mousy nurse shrinking into herself under their collective gaze. “N-n-no. I-I’m not sure we ever had a conversation together…” She mumbled. Tears pricked in her eyes as a pathetic cross of a whimper and a cry escaped her. “H-how terrible of me… I n-never talked to him, and now…!”

“It’s quite alright, Miss Tsumiki. There’s no way any of us could have expected this to happen,” Kirumi offered sympathetically, though a slight hint of discomfort leaked into her expression as she continued. “In regards to myself and Mister Yamada… I’m uncertain if calling us friends would be the most accurate descriptor, but we were definitely on amicable terms and interacted fairly often. Enough so that I would be remiss to not confess that it’s possible he considered us to be on close terms…” Tojo explained, and in a rare sight for Kaede, hesitated for a moment before she bowed her head and willingly put a nail in her coffin. “I assure you that I’m not the killer… but circumstances also forbid me from being objectively ruled out as a suspect.”

Kaede barely hid a grimace. _ “That’s what I was afraid of… please, Kirumi. Please be telling the truth. Just let it look bad and nothing more than that…” _She silently pleaded, a knot rising in her chest at the grim possibility she was being presented with. She couldn’t give up on the truth, not when they were so close and not when all their lives depended on it, but she prayed to whatever god could hear her that her worst-case scenario wouldn’t be revealed as the truth of the case. Externally, she simply gave a small nod of acknowledgement. “I thought so. Unless anyone can prove otherwise,” The ex-pianist paused for a second just in case anyone did object, continuing once it became clear no one would. “Then we can cross Mikan and Chiaki off the list as well.”

“R-really? That’s wonderful! But, um, I-I’m sorry for the people still on the list. I-I’ll try my best to help you guys, too!” Tsumiki promised, a hint of determination sticking out amongst her usual anxiousness. The sheepish girl was even managing to mostly meet their gazes for at least a few seconds at a time as she said it. A touch of warmth flickered in Kaede despite the dread of what was coming next. Perhaps Mikan was taking her and Kaito’s advice to heart after all…

Chiaki pulled on her backpack straps. “We’re getting warmer, I think. Is there anything else we can figure out from the letter?”

And thus was the moment of bitter truth. “No. Whoever Hifumi was confronting was a girl he thought of as a friend and was actively meeting with other people. I hate to say it, but… there’s only three people left that fit that role: Kirumi, Tsumugi, and Celeste. There’s no doubt about it. The killer has to be one of them.” Kaede proclaimed with absolute certainty in her voice and ash in her mouth. The others were bursting out with their own reactions, whether it be shocked cries or stunned silence or anything in between, but the former Ultimate Pianist wasn’t paying attention to them. Her focus was solely locked on the last three people it could have been, scrutinizing each of them with the knowledge that she could very well be matching gazes with the culprit. 

Tsumugi’s eyes went wide and fearful, the cosplayer paling and warily glancing between each of them. “O-one of us…?! Could that really be true?”

“It’s difficult to imagine someone outside of this circle being the culprit at this point…” Kirumi stated neutrally, lacking the obvious distrust Shirogane exuded but the glint of suspicion still visible in her hardened emerald eyes.

Celeste calmly folded her hands in front of her with a completely blank expression. “I am well used to being in the final bracket, so this is of little concern to me. However, I can’t help but notice there’s one other possible suspect you failed to mention, Kaede.”

Akamatsu knitted her brow, uncomprehending. “Other suspect…?”

“Why, yourself, of course.”

Dead silence dominated the courtroom for a short eternity, Kaede unable to do anything but stare blankly at the gambler in pure shock. “M-me?” She stumbled out, too taken aback to even properly object to the remark.

Kaito was more than willing to take on that role, however. “Hey! What are you talking about, Celeste?! There’s no way you really think Kaede’s the killer!”

Ludenberg’s eyes narrowed a touch, her expression still carefully measured. “Whoever I think is the killer is not the point. I am merely pointing out that we have not ruled her out as a suspect, and yet we are allowing her to dictate the direction of this trial,” She shot back dismissively before returning her focus to their pink-clad leader. “It’s nothing personal, I assure you. I simply wish to explore all options before we vote. Overlooking even a small detail could potentially mean the deaths of everyone here, after all.”

“That’s true…” Sakura admitted, a conflicted look on her face. “... I do not believe Kaede is the killer. However, leaving any aspects of this case unsolved before voting is… unwise.”

Mondo glared at the martial artist. “Are you jokin’?”

“The furthest thing from it, Mondo Owada. If this trial is to continue under her command, we must prove beyond measure that her deductions are untainted by the blood of Hifumi. I too wish to dispel this mist of doubt, for once it is clear, we can follow Kaede without worry of being led down the path of damnation…” The Dark Overlord of Ice stated unwaveringly.

“But can we be certain this accusation isn’t another misdirection in and of itself?” Tojo warned.

Kaede watched their back and forth with a slithering sense of discomfort coiling around her. Oddly enough, it felt less suffocating now than during her last round under suspicion despite the raise of stakes, but this still wasn’t going the way she’d planned in the slightest. They did have a point, as painful as that was to admit, but she still couldn’t let things go off the rails once again. “Guys!” She called out, raising her voice just enough to make sure she caught everyone’s attention. Once their eyes shifted back to her, she continued. “I understand why you’re worried, but I’m not the culprit. I didn’t name myself because I _ know _I didn’t do it… but if you can’t believe that alone, then let me prove it! I’ll show you that I’m not the killer!”

“If you can do that, Kaede,” Celeste addressed, unreadable thoughts drifting just below the surface of her unflinching gaze. “Then I encourage you to do so promptly. Process of elimination is our best option at the moment, and I’d prefer if we could use it to solve this case as quickly as possible.”

Kaede gave a firm nod. “I’ll do just that. No matter what it costs, I won’t let the truth fade away.”

The Ultimate Anthropologist gripped the brim of his hat. “Inspiring, Kaede. I truly hope those words are genuine… and that is why I’ll take it upon myself to give the opening remarks. I eagerly await your defense.”

_ “What kind of logic is… no, that doesn’t matter. What matters is proving that I’m not the killer. We’re almost at the end… just a little bit more, and we can finally put all this behind us…” _Kaede reminded herself, tensing her fists for comfort. “Fine. Ready when you are, Kiyo.”

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“To start with, Hifumi’s description of our likely culprit could easily apply to Kaede,” Korekiyo began, resting a gloved hand on his cheek. “After all, she is doubtlessly **the most social among us**, and held some degree of closeness to him before his demise.”

Leon sent an uneasy glance in her direction as he crossed his arms. “He said the chick on his video acts like she helps people, but does crap when they aren’t looking, right? Isn’t that kinda what she was doing _ earlier with Mondo _?”

Owada narrowed his eyes at the baseball star. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

“He means that she was willing to lie to everyone in order to **serve her own interests** ,” Celeste bluntly summed up. “Which ties into a key part of this possibility. You ** never checked Kaede’s lab** while you were searching for Hifumi, correct?”

The Ultimate Biker quirked an eyebrow. “No, I didn’t… hey, are you sayin’-”

“Then isn’t it possible,” Celeste interrupted sharply. “That he was _ already dead _, and she was returning from planting the body there?”

Kaede’s eyes went wide, the girl subconsciously raising her hands up as if the words were weapons. “H-huh?! No! There’s no way I’d do something like that!”

Kaito pumped a fist as he glared at Celeste. “Yeah! Even ignoring how screwed up that is, it’d be incredibly stupid! Why would she frame herself?!”

Tsumugi gripped at her elbow with an almost melancholy expression. “But if she did do it, then wouldn’t the body in her lab make it seem like _ someone was framing her _, so we’d all rule her out?”

“Placing the body in her own lab would be a massive risk if she were the killer. Do you really think anyone would be that willing to rely on reverse-psychology?” Peko argued.

Korekiyo hummed in response. “Bold to be certain, but not impossible. If she did kill Hifumi by the time she met with Mondo, it would certainly put her insistence that he stop looking around in a new light…”

Chiaki frowned, tilting her head to the side slightly. “But wouldn’t she have _ had blood on her _ if she did that?” Nanami pointed out, a hint of a grimace coming over her as she continued. “The killer probably would have got some on them when they smashed his head…”

Ludenberg hardly batted an eye at that. “If she did that first, then yes. However, she could have decided to do that after her encounter with Mondo in order to frame him,” The gambler suggested, looking off to the side as she flicked at her hair. “Given the fact that he almost killed her, she’d certainly have a reason to stick it to him. Kaede could have simply done all that as an act, waited until you and Kaito were out of the picture, and then traveled back to her lab, at which point ** _she used the piano’s keylid _ **to bash Hifumi’s skull in. It would be easy to conceal the evidence by showering and changing outfits once this was done. Thus, the true cause of death is hidden and the one who tried to kill her and has a definitive reason to target Hifumi can take the fall.”

“Fuckin’ bullshit!” Mondo eloquently objected, snarling out the words with a sneer. “Why the fuck would she do somethin’ like that and then stick her neck out to cover my ass earlier?! That doesn’t make any sense!”

Tsumugi flinched, slightly curling into herself even as she offered her own response. “But that’s exactly what Kaede **did for Shuichi last time**…”

“Those are completely different and you know it!” Kaito roared.

Kirumi gave the cosplayer and gambler an unconvinced look. “Agreed. This is simply too inconsistent both logically and in terms of Kaede’s character.”

“Yet there seems to be no evidence that can firmly place it in the realm of impossibility, either…” Gundham pointed out. “I can attest that the machinations of reality are stranger and more unbelievable than any mortal fiction could dream of. Until it is proven, the possibility cannot be ignored.”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede knew exactly what could prove that wrong. It was exceedingly simple yet completely absolving, and yet the words felt impossible to get out. Her throat felt tight and dry, choking down her confession before could even fully muster up the courage to try forcing it out. _ “... So this is how Shuichi must have felt…” _ Kaede dreerily noted, subconsciously squeezing her elbow out of habit. _ “I have to prove her wrong, or we’ll keep going down the wrong road forever, but… this is going to ruin _ ** _everything_ ** _ . If they know I’m this weak, there’s no way they’ll trust me to keep everything together. Maybe… maybe some of them will even think I’m an easy target because of it… is this really something I can do?” _

Backing out, however, was not an option, as evidenced by the expectant gaze of the Ultimate Gambler. “Well, Kaede? You’ve been silent for some time now, but you look like there’s something you want to say. Do you have something to contradict my theory?” Celeste pressed. Oddly, her tone didn’t seem like an accusation. Rather, it almost reminded her of the edge Kokichi’s voice would take on whenever he was fishing for information while pretending to joke around. Just as with the Ultimate Supreme Leader, Kaede had no clue what Celeste’s game was, yet felt like there was no way not to play it at this point.

_ “There’s no evidence that proves her wrong outright, and lying would just make me look way guiltier than she ever could. She probably knows I’m hiding something, and this is how she’s getting me to admit it…” _The musician realized, hating the fact that Ludenberg had her perfectly pinned down if that was indeed her intention. Her nails pressed harshly against her arm, the sleeve of her shirt the only thing keeping her from leaving angry red marks on the skin. Once again, she’d managed to end up in the worst possible scenario with no easy way out. Without realizing it, Kaede found her eyes drifting over to the only other person that knew the truth of her dilema, meeting the gaze of the Ultimate Maid. 

Kirumi’s confliction and concern was evident on her face, Tojo’s years of experience measuring her expressions almost certainly being the only thing keeping it this reserved. A sense of shame came over the blonde as she realized she’d inadvertently left her friend in an even worse position: betray Kaede’s trust and save the group, or keep silent and risk her falsely being voted as the culprit. Her heart panged guiltily even as the realization of the inevitable set in. _ “Between protecting me and the group, even if she feels terrible about it, she’ll pick them. That’s just part of her promise to serve everyone… which means there’s no other choice, is there? They’re going to find out no matter what... Kirumi’s just giving me the chance to admit it on my own. If that’s what she’s doing…” _ Kaede closed her eyes, her shoulders tensing as she made a decision that could very well haunt her for the rest of her life. _ “Then that’s just what I’ll have to do, too. I already lied to their faces once. I’d be a pretty terrible leader if I tried doing it again just to protect myself, huh? Besides… even if they all look down on me for it, or… or even try exploiting it, at least we’ll all be alive for that to happen, right? I promised I’d face the truth. It’s time I do exactly that.” _

Kaede opened her eyes, determination holding firm against the fear clawing at the back of her mind as she steeled herself for what was about to come. “... You said I used the piano to crush Hifumi’s head, Celeste, but that’s not possible.”

A flash of intrigue made Ludenberg’s eyes glimmer. “Is that so? Then I’m sure you have something to back up this assertion.”

And thus, the moment of truth. “I don’t know if you can call this evidence, exactly, but there’s definitely something that means I couldn’t have done it. It’s impossible for me to have used the piano lid because I…” She trailed off in hesitation, a surge of shame and anxiety overcoming her resolve just enough to give her pause for a moment. Akamatsu felt incredibly small under everyone’s waiting eyes, the indignity of what she was about to admit forcing her to close her eyes and all but hiss out the words. “... I’m terrified of pianos.”

The crushing silence that followed was more mortifying than she could ever have imagined. She could already feel their stares boring into her judgmentally even before she finally worked up the courage to open her eyes and see it for herself. At best, they were looking at her in undisguised confusion, while others were narrowing their eyes into glares as if she’d made a bad joke. Even Mondo and Kaito were giving her odd looks, the astronaut completely baffled whilst Owada’s face practically screamed ‘are you serious’. She couldn’t help but look away, gritting her teeth as she felt her face warm up. After a few moments of the smothering quiet, an accented voice spoke up, her tone painfully blunt as she parroted the words. “... You, the Ultimate Pianist, are afraid of pianos…” Celeste said slowly, leaning forward as if she were addressing an obviously lying child, only furthering Kaede’s humiliation.

“You don’t think I know how that sounds?!” Akamatsu snapped, indignant fury flaring up for a moment before slumping back into self-conscious shame. Leon physically flinched away from her while those farther away startled slightly, their confusion and judgement quickly shifting into surprise. She let out a huff, clamping her eyes shut with a grimace. “I _ know _it sounds ridiculous. Trust me, I know. It feels even more ridiculous to say than it sounds, but it’s the truth. Even just looking at a piano puts me on edge...”

“... Notes of Nevermore,” Tsumugi suddenly gasped out, a mixture of realization and pity in her voice that made each word feel like a lash. “When we were watching it, you’d get pale every time the piano played. And your hands kept shaking…”

Kaede gave a shaky nod, hating how pathetic it felt to confirm that. “Y-yeah. If I think about it for too long, or hear some notes, or see something that looks like a piano, it feels like right before my execution… like I’m about to die.” She confessed, her voice all but dropping to a whisper at the end as her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

“It fucks with you that bad? Jesus…” Mondo muttered somewhat sympathetically, clearly not entirely understanding why but at least convinced that she was serious now. 

Celeste looked at her like someone studying a particularly interesting puzzle. “... This relates to your execution, I presume,” Ludenberg deduced, Kaede’s involuntary wince confirming the suspicion instantly. She gave a small, thoughtful hum. “I see. I truly apologize if this is insensitive to you, then, but if you were already aware of this condition as Tsumugi implied, why precisely did you go to your lab last night?”

The girl couldn’t hold back a scowl at that. “You already pointed out how stupid it is. The Ultimate Pianists terrified of her own instrument?” A mirthless, self-deprecating scoff of a laugh choked out of Kaede. “It’s a sick joke. I went to my lab because I wanted to force myself to get over this stupid thing. I thought if I could just sit down and play until I stopped feeling so scared of it, I could move on. But…” She hesitated yet again, debating whether or not to expose the full extent of her patheticness to them all. It was absolutely the last thing she wanted to do, but it was clear that even the smallest hole or vague detail in her story would bring suspicion upon her once again. Swallowing down what was left of her pride, Akamatsu forced out the truth. “It didn’t work. All I did was make it worse. I didn’t lose track of time because I was having fun playing the piano. I lost track because I kept freaking out and remembering my… my _ execution _.” She confessed, practically spitting out the word like a slur. 

“Y-you kept triggering flashbacks?!” Mikan cried out in abject horror, her greyish eyes frenzied with concern. “Oh n-no! Y-you can’t try to force yourself through trauma like that! It’s not only very bad for your mental health, b-but when you keep putting your body through adrenaline rushes like that, you’re putting a lot of stress on your heart! Panic attacks are really serious! Please don’t put yourself at risk like that!” The nurse all but begged in clear dismay. Oddly enough, her stutter seemed to vanish almost completely in the face of this surge of medical-based worry despite the obvious increase in stress.

Kaede barely held back a wince. “I know. Kirumi told me the same thing as soon as she realized what was going on with me. But… I was sick of feeling powerless. For better or worse, that’s why I was there all night.”

Pekoyama closed her eyes. “I see… I assume you tried to return to your cabin once you recovered from these episodes, but ran into Mondo first?” The sword master guessed. 

The musician gave a quiet confirming hum with a nod. “Yeah… I was so ashamed of it that I didn’t want anyone else to know, but if the alternative was having everyone hung up on me being the culprit when I know that’s not true, there wasn’t much of a choice,” Kaede lamented, bowing her head. Glancing up at Celeste, Kaede tried not to feel too bitter about what she was forced to reveal over the gambler’s accusation. “... Well, Celeste? Is that proof enough that I couldn’t have done that to Hifumi?”

Ludenberg gave a small nod. “Yes, I believe that is suf-”

“Hold on!” Monokuma suddenly piped up, his paws thrown in the air warningly. The class collectively turned towards him in an instant, each of them taken aback by their headmaster’s abrupt demand. The bear glared down at them with his pudgy paws on his hips. “You’re just going to take her word on this? Isn’t that pretty dangerous for you guys?”

Kaede glared hatefully at the absolute bastard of an animatronic. “What do you care?” She spat out bluntly.

Monokuma’s grin grew, a distinctly unsettled feeling rising up Kaede’s back as his gaze seemed to fix on her. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t. Buuuuut, what I do care about is getting every last drop of despair out of you guys as possible, and if that just so happens to involve helping clear up a portion of the case, it lets me be generous to myself and you guys! It’s rare that I can be such a help to my students,” He joked, tipping up his captain’s hat proudly. “And so, without further ado, your beloved headmaster is going to go ahead and demonstrate whether our dear Ultimate Pianist is telling the truth or not!”

Kaede felt her stomach drop. “Wait, what are you-?!”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Monokuma reached just out of view and pulled out a keyboard and balanced it between his armrests. “A one and a two and a one two three four!” He cheerily declared before launching into brief melody. Hellish pain flared around her neck as soon as the first notes reached her ears, a startled gasp escaping her as her hands desperately flew to grasp at her throat. Her eyes began to water, the girl gasping for air while her knees buckled beneath her. She had to grab on to her podium just to keep from falling over outright. People were shouting, but their voices sounded distant and muffled compared to the mocking music that seemed to laugh at her suffering. Fear surged throughout her entire body, setting it ablaze as adrenaline took effect and her heart hammered in her chest. 

After what couldn’t have been more than a few seconds yet felt like a lifetime, the notes finally faded away, the voices gradually becoming louder and more distinct with each passing moment despite having to rival her thundering heartbeat. She became vaguely aware of Mondo howling out profanities and threats to a giggling Monokuma as the class varied between glaring at the bear and giving her shocked and worried looks. Someone was holding her, though she was too distracted to bother figuring out who, especially once she realized that her airway was no longer clamped down in a vice grip. The ex-pianist greedily sucked in a number of breaths, the feeling of air in her lungs stinging almost as much as the lack of it had. “S-slowly. It’s important you don’t hyperventilate. Try to take deep, slow breaths...” A soft voice instructed. Lacking any other options, Kaede tried her best to comply despite the desperate urge to breathe in as much as possible.

Eventually, the world seemed to fade back into being for Kaede, the girl blinking as she slowly began realizing where she was. She slowly pushed herself back up to full height, wincing at the flash of pain in her hand at the pressure as she pushed down on the already ghostly white knuckles. “C-careful! You shouldn’t exert yourself after something like that!” The voice fretted again. Kaede looked to her side to find Mikan dutifully helping raise her up, a worried yet somewhat determined sheen in her eye. That confidence fluctuated a little as she seemed to debate something for a moment before asking a question. “U-um… this isn’t really a smart question, b-but do you think you’re okay now?”

Akamatsu managed a weak nod, needing a moment before she could find the breath to speak. “Y-yeah. I think so…” She finally managed, her voice unsteady and unconvincing to her own ears. Tsumiki clearly shared that assessment if the downward quirk of her lips was any indication, but the Ultimate Nurse didn’t see it fit to object. Kaede forced a reassuring smile, doing her best to ignore how strained it felt and the lingering stinging in her doubtlessly inflamed eyes. It distantly dawned on her that Mikan definitely hadn’t been this close by a minute ago (had it been a minute? So much of it seemed to blur…), and subsequently that the mysterious voice and the fretful girl before her were more than likely one in the same. Her smile faltered, becoming more genuine but tinged with an uncharacteristic shyness. “... You were helping me, right? Thank you. And sorry that you had to see that. I...”

The words died in her throat as she realized the full extent of what she’d just said. Mikan had _seen _her. Someone else had seen her gasping and blubbering, crying in a pain that didn’t really exist. Mikan had seen all that, which meant… Kaede’s blood turned to ice in her veins. Rude as it was, she swirled around to find almost all of her peers staring at her now. There were no glares or sneers anymore, but that didn’t keep her tears from forming anew in the face of this final humiliation. _Everyone _had seen it. Each and every last one of the people she’d sworn to protect saw her make a _goddamn_ _fool _of herself over some poorly played notes. _“Oh, god… no, no, no…” _Her mortified thoughts pleaded, but reality refused to be denied. Akamatsu wanted nothing more than to vanish, yet was frozen in place, unable to do anything but stand there like a deer in headlights.

“Kaede! Are you okay? What the hell was that?” Kaito frantically questioned, the embers of fury mixing with his concern for her in his voice. Somehow, that only managed to make it all feel worse.

“I…” She tried to say, her mind going blank the second she tried to think of anything to say after _ that _. Her mouth felt dry as ash, a stark contrast to the river of tears running down her cheeks. It wasn’t long before she gave up on trying to come up with any sort of explanation, or apology, or anything to make herself look less pathetic than she felt, the girl defaulting to simply wrapping her arms around herself and hanging her head in shame. “I don’t want to talk about this. Please, just… not now.”

A giggle she’d long since learned to despise mocked her from afar. “What, was my playing really that bad?” Monokuma teased, grinning down at her maliciously. “Geez! I know I’m no Ultimate Pianist, but you don’t have to cry about it! You’re a big girl, aren’t you?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Mondo roared, swirling on the spot to bare his teeth at Monokuma. “Whatever the fuck you did, it’s your goddamn fault! I oughta rip out your stupid fucking face ** _THROUGH YOUR ASS!_ **”

The Ultimate Entomologist wasn’t too far behind him, the usually peaceful boy seeming to radiate anger around him like a cloud. “Gonta protect friends too! If Monokuma no stop, Gonta will help fight!”

The bear merely shrugged at them. “Geez, tough crowd! And after I went out of my way to help prove your friend innocent, too! Guess some people just don’t appreciate you no matter what,” The animatronic lamented, looking down forlornly for a second before instantly springing back to full spirits, carelessly tossing the keyboard to the side as he threw his paws to the side merrily. “Aw well! I still did my good deed for the day!”

“Good deed…?” Kirumi echoed, her emerald eye narrowed at the bear in clear disgust. Her jaw tensed, and in a rare moment of genuine anger, the maid outright insulted their sadistic captor. “It’s unbefitting of me to say this, but I will anyway: you truly are abhorrent.”

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me! Though speaking of breaking bones,” Monokuma shot back before turning his devilish gaze to the Ultimate Nurse. “Miss Tsumiki, it’s nice of you to try and help our resident crybaby, but you should probably get back to your seat before you get marked as absent from the trial. I’d hate to have to punish one of my dear students on a technicality…” He threatened, his usual joviality unable to fully mask the menace in his voice.

“Seriously?! Go to hell, Monokuma!” Kaito growled furiously.

The nurse let out a frightened screech, violently flinching at the bear’s cruel words. “I-I’m sorry! I w-want to help, b-but-!”

Kaede vehemently shook her head. “No, it’s okay! Don’t worry about me. You’ve already done great,” She reassured with another strained smile, throwing that last statement on mostly to help sooth Mikan more than anything. She really did mean it… she was just glancing over the fact that she didn’t want her help to begin with. Her skittish friend thankfully seemed to be won over by that, a hint of happiness even flashing in her eyes before she gave a nod and began quickly rushing back to her podium. The musician’s friendly look faded as she cast a glower towards Monokuma. “... Besides, we’re not out of the woods just yet. We still have to solve this case.”

Celeste nodded concuringly. “Quite. Though Monokuma insists on running a jester’s court, this trial is still the most pressing matter at hand. Unnecessary acts of cruelty and idiotic jokes can not distract from that. Fortunately,” She paused, allowing a small, contented smile as she made a shocking declaration. “Thanks to Kaede’s testimony, I have deduced who the killer is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kayayday's lie turned out to be quite a bad idea, huh? Good thing she's a clever enough girl to prove her innocence with facts and logic™. But hey, we're getting to the end of the trial, so I'm curious who you guys think the culprit is seeing as how basically everyone's been eliminated at this point. Bonus points if you can explain exactly how they did the crime!
> 
> EDIT: Fixed the image to not be inaccurate anymore. I'm truly living up to my talent as the Ultimate Dumb.  
EDIT EDIT: Fuck Kaito; he's the biggest pain in the ass in these pictures good god-
> 
> -MrCynical


	16. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Trial Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celeste makes her accusation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this one; we've been hard at work trying to not only write it all out, but create some visuals to go along with it that proved more challenging than initially expected. Still, we're proud to present the fruits of our labor! Enjoy! :D
> 
> -MrCynical

Celeste’s confident smirk was undaunted by the startled looks and gasps of her fellow blackened, the Ultimate Gambler patiently waiting for the dust to settle in the wake of her shocking reveal. For once, even Gundham and Kaito’s booming voices couldn’t seem to sour her mood as she remained as calm and composed as ever. Kaede had no idea how on earth the gothic girl could manage to be so nonplussed after saying something as chilling and monumental as that, let alone how she could _ smile _ at such a thing. It felt terrible enough identifying three people that could have _ theoretically _done it. The idea of directly accusing someone of being the killer…

_ “Kaede is the culprit,” _ Shuichi’s weary, almost defeated voice echoed in her mind. Kaede banished the memory with a small shake of her head just as quickly as it came to her. _ “There’s no time for that now. Focus on the here and now,” _ She admonished herself before turning her full attention back to Ludenberg. “You know who did this?!” Akamatsu parroted, raising her voice enough to be heard over the general din of the courtroom. Whether they still respected her as their leader or not, the ex-pianist’s demand seemed to quiet most of the uproar down to hushed whispers at most while most fell to an expectant silence. At the gambler’s continued silence, Kaede’s lingering mortification and desolation fueled a growing sense of weary frustration. After all, it was Celeste who forced her to reveal one of her most shameful secrets in front of _ everyone _ just to be cleared as a suspect _ and _spurred Monokuma’s cruel stunt, inadvertent as the latter might have been. Perhaps it was simply on account of her mind still reeling from the surge of relived trauma, but Kaede couldn’t deny that she suddenly felt far less inclined to simply let bygones be bygones. Her patience for Ludenberg’s sly tricks running thin, she pressed the issue a little more roughly. “If you know, then just come on and say it! Who’s the culprit, and how exactly does my alibi prove it?”

Celeste’s smirk grew at that. “My my, rather forceful, aren’t you?” The European lightly scolded. Before Kaede could respond with more than narrowing eyes, Ludenberg quickly moved to appease the increasingly impatient leader. “Very well. I will begin with my explanation, and that will help to show definitively who the killer must be.”

“Or ya could get to the fuckin’ point and just spit it out.” Mondo gruffly rebuked.

Celeste glared darkly at the man. “Oh? Perhaps you’d like to solve the mystery then, Mondo?”

Owada sneered, opening his mouth to fire back at the gambler, but Kirumi was mercifully quick to intervene with a compromise. “I believe it would be best to allow Miss Ludenberg to speak, though I also encourage you to put as few flourishes as possible. Whenever you’re ready to begin, Miss Ludenberg.”

“I suppose that is acceptable,” The Ultimate Gambler hummed, Kaede wordlessly rolling her eyes at the goth’s haughty tone. Shifting back to her unshakable confidence from earlier, Celeste launched into her explanation. “I must admit that this is a suspicion I’ve held for quite some time now. I simply lacked the evidence I needed to confirm a part of it, which we can thank Kaede for giving me. You see, I have noticed that there is someone whose actions have gone all but unquestioned throughout this trial, save for when she was directly linked with one of our previous prime suspects. Despite practically never coming under scrutiny, she has been an undeniable force throughout the course of this trial, investigation, and even the past several days aboard this ship… haven’t you, Kirumi?”

Kaede stared at Celeste in total disbelief, a stunned ‘h-huh?’ escaping her before she could even think of an actual response. The ghostly pale girl paid her no mind in favor of the subject of her accusation, Akamatsu numbly following her gaze to the somewhat surprised-looking Tojo. Her emerald eye widened for a moment, the maid taken aback enough by the allegation for it to slip through her usually measured mask. Kirumi blinked, her brow furrowing as she gave the most simple and direct response she was capable of. “... I beg your pardon?”

“H-hey now, you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, right…?” Teruteru asked uneasily, an unsettled grimace painting his usually bombastic features in a clear and undeniable sense of dread. 

Celeste didn’t even bother looking at him as she responded, her cool eyes completely locked on Tojo. “If you believe I’m implying that she is the killer, then yes, that is precisely what I am saying.”

The sheer bluntness of her words was like a slap in the face to Kaede, the blonde reeling back in shock as her unlikely classmates gave similar displays of startlement. “Wh-what?!” She sputtered out uncomprehendingly.

“Kirumi did it?!” Leon blared out with a horrified expression. “D-dude! I was investigating with the culprit?!”

The Ultimate Entomologist furiously shook his head, his impossibly long hair swishing wildly behind him. “Unpossible! Gonta not believe Kirumi would hurt friends like that!”

“B-but we both went through her trial, Gonta. We definitely know she can…” Tsumugi noted with dismay as she seemed to pale slightly.

Amidst the swell of panicked cries, Peko’s sharp and unflinching tone rolled over the court like thunder. “This bickering is pointless! Until we hear Celeste’s reasoning, claiming Kirumi’s guilt or innocence is a foolish move,” The swordswoman barked commandingly, the trial grounds once again falling silent in the wake of an authoritative presence. Turning her narrowed red eyes to Celeste, Pekoyama struck bluntly. “Explain yourself.”

It seemed the gambler had enough fun as she didn’t so much as bother chastising the other girl for her confrontational attitude. Celeste carelessly flicked at her hair as she launched into her explanation. “As I said, I have suspected this for quite some time, as I noticed a number of coincidences that began building up throughout the trial. Kirumi was among the first to discover the body, and then was the first volunteer to investigate the crime scene itself. More peculiarly, she was leading Kaede there _ before _ the body was found, despite doubtlessly being aware of Kaede’s condition by then. She was the one to propose searching in the ballroom where the lift was discovered, which could have been a lucky guess… or an attempt to seem helpful during the investigation with an ultimately inconsequential piece of evidence and thus dissuade suspicion. The tablecloth used to stop Hifumi’s bleeding was found in her lab. Furthermore, she is a close match for the person described in Hifumi’s tape _ and _was quick to confirm a number of alibis, which we readily believed despite having no one that could confirm her own,” Ludenberg pointed out, masking her expression behind a delicately positioned fist. “While all of that means little alone, it would be difficult to deny that it is an odd string of events to be mere coincidence.”

_ “... That’s it? She sounded so sure in her accusation, but…” _Kaede frowned, crossing her arms as her brow furrowed unsurely. “That’s all pretty coincidental, isn’t it? Not to throw stones, but a couple of those apply to you too...” She warned lightly, quietly wondering whether she should be relieved that Celeste’s reasoning was rather thin or disappointed that they still weren’t closer to solving the case after all.

Gundham let out a low hum. “The Ebon Witch’s words are frail… but not so much as to shatter at a mere glance,” The Dark Lord tentatively agreed with a somewhat conflicted expression. “Though I made no secret of the lift’s location within this realm, Kirumi went so far as to mark my words almost as soon as she was made aware of its existence. It was easy to assume as mere devotion to our mutual task at the time, yet in light of this, it is beyond foolish to simply ignore this so-called coincidence.”

Kirumi’s lips tugged downward, the maid slightly bowing her head with her hands firmly folded in her lap. “But as you said, Mister Tanaka, I was hardly the only one aware of it. I made note of it as I did everything else I considered important during my initial exploration of the ship. The only reason I thought to check the lift again was because I already suspected Mister Yamada’s body might have been moved, and remembering your words, thought it would be best to check,” Tojo denied evenly, her composure unflinching even in the face of multiple accusations. The silver-haired girl shook her head with a slightly dismissive wave of her hand. “Merely being the one to discover a piece of evidence because of previous knowledge is not the same as scheming.”

Kaede nodded agreeingly. “Kirumi’s right. Finding a clue you were expecting could just mean you have good instincts for that sort of thing. It’s like how a musician can probably guess what notes are about to come next based on how the song’s been structured up to that.” The former Ultimate Pianist defended. Maybe a music analogy wasn’t the best point of reference for most of them, but it was pretty hard to come up with comparisons to other things when she’d spent her entire life memorizing note sheets.

For a moment, the blonde assumed her explanation might have worked out after all. Just as she was about to try and retake control of the conversation, however, a sage voice rumbled out almost reluctantly from her left.“... On its own, I would agree. However, I must confess that I have noticed some odd coincidences as well,” Sakura announced, lips thinned and eyes closed in thought. Kaede tilted her head in confusion, about to ask the martial artist what she meant when Ogami raised a point she hadn’t even thought about. “I’m sorry, Kaede, but there is something that I must know the truth of. When you first investigated your lab this morning, what did Kirumi say to you that was confidential enough to whisper?”

Akamatsu blinked. “Whisper? What are you… oh...” She trailed off as the memory suddenly came back to her. _ “‘You can’t lead us if you’re having a panic attack,’” _ Kirumi’s dire warning rang. Kaede flinched slightly, staring at the ground in a mix of frustration and lingering shame. _ Of course _ it had to tie back to _ that _ yet again. Kaede pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh as she forced out yet another degrading confession. “... No point in hiding it now, I guess… Kirumi asked me to let someone else investigate my lab. She was worried that seeing the room like that, with Hifumi’s body… being the way it was, and the blood on the piano, would… give me another _ episode _.” She admitted, all but hissing out the last few words.

“Worried for your emotional health, or worried that you’d be a useful asset to the investigation?” Celeste probed pointedly, earning a harsh glare from Kaede.

“_ Excuse me _?” The leader demanded, insult clear in her voice.

Kirumi was no different, the maid narrowing her visible eye in a thinly veiled glower. “Miss Ludenberg, I request that you withdraw that remark immediately. I am willing to endure a great many things, but I will _ not _abide you saying such horrid things about my relationship with Kaede.” Tojo cautioned, her eloquent tone smothering the bite that lingered just beneath the surface. Ludenberg, however, would not be deterred.

“Perhaps my wording is harsh, but it’s not an unreasonable question. Kirumi, you were well aware that Kaede has violently bad reactions to the piano before any of us even knew it was a source of worry, and yet you didn’t show such concern prior to the investigation. Assuming Kaede was telling the truth about asking you to clean her lab, why did you allow her to accompany you to her lab?” Celeste shot back skeptically.

“Hold on! I _ asked _to go with her! She didn’t want me to for those exact reasons!” Kaede interrupted, thrusting a finger towards Celeste. “The only reason she let me come along was because I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t go on my own!”

The Ultimate Gambler stared at her, something unreadable glinting in her eyes. “... Kaede, do you realize what you just said?”

In an instant, her surge of righteous anger tapered as it blended with confusion. “... What do you mean? I’m saying what happened.”

Ludenberg stared at her blankly for a moment, almost as if she were waiting to the musician to take back the words. Once it was clear Kaede had no such intention, the goth leaned forward, her blood-red eyes almost hypnotic in how they zeroed in on her prey. “So Kirumi not only told you to _ not _ investigate the crime scene, but tried to go to it _ entirely alone _?”

Kaede froze. That was… she snapped back to her senses, instantly banishing the seed the gambler was trying to plant. “Th-that’s not what I meant!” She quickly amended, shaking her head violently. “She was just trying to look out for me, because she’s a good friend. Think about it; if she actually did kill Hifumi, why would she let me go to my lab at all? She could have just refused because of my freakouts, gone to the second deck, and cleared out any evidence she wanted. So, why didn’t she?”

“Didn’t you already say you were likely to go there on your own with or without Kirumi’s permission?” Korekiyo drawled, the anthropologist slightly raising an eyebrow as he spoke. “It would have been rather troublesome for you to randomly stumble upon the scene, especially if she was in the process of meddling with it. By taking you there immediately, she would have lost the ability to remove whatever evidence she’d left behind, but would have a major advantage in the form of controlling exactly how the body was discovered and establishing a sense of inconspicuousness early on.”

“Inconspicuousness…? What are you talking about?” Kaito questioned suspiciously.

“Consider the events Kaede had been dealing with up to this point. Between her traumatic experience in her lab, a subsequent near-death experience with Mondo shortly after, and then preparing to visit her lab once again after all that, she was doubtlessly under quite some stress. To not only open up the door and find a gruesome murder scene waiting for her, but subsequently realize that the location of it would almost definitely put her under suspicion as the culprit? I believe anyone would be on the verge of panicking,” Shinguji ominously explained. As he turned his snakish gaze to Kaede, he pulled on the brim of his hat, hiding half his face in shadow. “But, as it just so happens, there was a friendly face there beside her. Did she assure you that she knew you were innocent, Kaede? Give you every assurance that you wanted to hear?”

A chill crept up Akamatsu’s spine. _ “... How did he know that…?” _ She reluctantly asked in her mind, an uncomfortable pit forming in her stomach. That was _ exactly _what Kirumi had done from the second they found Hifumi dead. It was all too easy to remember the swell of sheer panic she’d felt when she’d realized just how bad the situation would pan out, new fears building on the old as it mixed with her existing shakiness. How comforting it was to have someone well and truly believe in her without reservation even after everything Kaede had done to undermine that trust. Kirumi believed in her, so she believed in Kirumi. It was as simple as that. That… that couldn’t have all been for show, right? She wanted to speak up and deny the lanky man’s words outright, yet it suddenly seemed so difficult to say anything, the words refusing to come to her. Without anyone leaping to her defense, Tojo took it into her own hands.

“That is pure conjecture, and sickening conjecture at that,” Kirumi bit back, anger slipping past her collected mask. Her gaze was on the precipice of a glare, hard and unwavering as she looked between Korekiyo and Celeste. “In my duties as a maid, and more importantly as her friend, yes, I offered my assurances to Kaede, but it was for those reasons alone. My intentions were nowhere near the sort of maliciousness you’re trying to imply. Construing my actions in the worst possible ways is not the same as actual evidence.”

Leon shifted uneasily in his stand, crossing his arms as he cautiously eyed the maid. “But ya gotta admit that a lot of stuff starts adding up here, you know? When they put it like that…”

Tsumugi turned deathly pale, a cold sweat forming at her brow. “I really don’t want it to be true, but it plainly makes a lot of sense. Especially since there’s something else I noticed…” Shirogane all but mumbled, rubbing her elbow nervously as people turned to her waitingly. Gulping a little, the cosplayer confessed what was on her mind. “W-well, when we were going over our alibis, Kirumi listed everyone that wasn’t in their room last night, right? But… isn’t it kind of weird that she was paying attention to when everyone left and went to bed? Why would she do that?”

Tojo frowned. “It’s simply a part of my duties. I find it important to take note of such things in case someone asks for my help locating another. And, as much as it pains me to say, it simply occurred to me as a good idea to be aware of others’ comings and goings given the situation we find ourselves in.”

“To be certain. It is an excellent way of protecting yourself if something terrible should happen… but is just as valuable a skill to someone trying to craft a false alibi,” Ludenberg pointed out, her hands calmly folded in front of her. “Of course, that’s not the only questionable aspect of your story. Despite having as open ended an alibi as nearly everyone else present, we used your testimony as one of the cornerstones of our understanding of the crime, treating your word as objective fact. We never actually confirmed your alibi beyond our final interaction at nine-fifteen. There is every possibility that you were preparing to commit the murder after we parted ways. Sakura claims she finished using her lab at the same time you say you fell asleep. If you simply lied about the timing, this means you would have had essentially free reign over the ship until Mondo received his motive video. As such, you could easily have been on the second deck in the process of the crime when Kaede and Mondo had their dispute, observed it, and then used it as inspiration for how you staged the body.”

Kirumi’s eyes narrowed, the woman visibly tensing in growing indignation as her podium shifted forward into the hellish spotlight in the center of the circle. “If I was aware that Kaede’s life was in danger, why on earth would I stand idly by and let her or anyone else come to harm?”

“If you were trying to kill someone at the time, revealing yourself would be foolish. Besides, killing almost always comes with the intent to graduate. What would be the purpose in saving Kaede’s life if you knew she would have to die during the trial for you to escape?” Pekoyama countered, boldly meeting Kirumi’s eyes as she made the accusation.

All throughout this, Kaede could do nothing but silently watch on as the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place before her. Realization didn’t strike her like a lightning bolt, but rather seemed to slowly wrap around her and blur the path ahead like a troublesome fog. It made her sick to her stomach to acknowledge, but as the seconds ticked by, the more she understood _ exactly _ what Celeste meant. She _ hated _ that the idea made more and more sense with every accusation thrown against her friend. If Kirumi were the culprit, _ of course _ she wouldn’t want Kaede to go with her to where she knew the body was waiting unless she had no other choice. _ Of course _ she’d try to use Kaede’s PTSD as a way of dissuading her from searching the crime scene. _ Of course _ she could have even specifically set the body up like that _ knowing _ about her condition for the express purpose of throwing her off and framing her. _ Of course _she would go out of her way to comfort her if it meant that it made the amateur detective reluctant to consider her a suspect.

The girl tasted bile, a dreadful cold settling all over her body. _ “Th-there’s no way that’s true, is there? If Kirumi is the killer, then that means that all this time she’s been…” _She hesitated, the thought refusing to process in her mind. Kirumi, who had been her closest confidant the past several days, was playing her…? Could that really have been the case? Every step of it flowed logically, but… all their talks, the time they spent together, everything they’d confided in each other… was it all just part of some master plan to escape?

Celeste must have noticed the former Ultimate Pianist’s growing unease, as she took the opportunity to pour more salt in the wound. “Are you beginning to understand, Kaede? Do you see how each of these pebbles serves to form a mountain of evidence against her?” She challenged, scrutinizing the girl under her damnable, certain gaze.

Akamatsu waited a moment, then another, and ultimately couldn’t bring herself to say anything at all. She dug her fingers into her arms until they hurt, tolerating the pain if it meant she could feel _ something _ for certain. Everything made sense, but the fact that it did was what made it all the more unbelievable. Confusion, hurt, denial, certainty, all of them swirled within her, all of them tainted by the bitter sting of betrayal. Why did it have to make sense?! Why couldn’t it have been ridiculous, or impossible, or _ something _ that didn’t make the idea of her best friend _ murdering _ someone seem so logical?! She’d known this was a possibility. She’d known it from the second she started narrowing down the suspect list. She knew she would have to face a painful truth no matter what she did… so why did it still _ hurt so much _?!

“... Kaede?”

The blonde flinched at the sound of her name, reluctantly raising her eyes from the ground. Kirumi stared at her, her emerald eye tinged with an anxious dread as the two stood in a crushing silence. For the first time since they met, Kirumi looked genuinely _ afraid _ , her years of discipline still unable to hide the way her hands trembled despite clutching onto each other tightly enough to leave bruises. The sight was a knife through Kaede’s heart. She wanted nothing more than to look away, but she felt locked in place, a helpless statue. Magenta met emerald as their eyes locked, and Kaede saw. She couldn’t see deception or malice. She saw fear. She saw the desperation of someone about to die. Someone who was silently begging her friend to _ save her life _. Kaede saw that, and the knife twisted.

Everything pointed towards Kirumi being the culprit. Every odd detail about the case, every small hiccup in the testimony, every major clue. It was overwhelming just how much went against the Ultimate Maid… yet, even all that evidence was rivaled by the pleading look in Kirumi’s eyes. No matter how hard Kaede tried to scrutinize Tojo, all she could see was a friend in need. The leader was at a complete loss what to do. She had zero evidence that could prove Kirumi innocent, yet the idea of casting her vote for her friend filled her with the same anguish she’d felt the moment she realized Rantaro was innocent. That was the crux of it: she didn’t know. She had no idea how to possibly resolve these two wildly different pictures of Kirumi in her head; the dear and devoted friend that she’d entrusted so many of her deepest feelings with over the past several days, or the murderous master manipulator playing everyone for fools that the evidence suggested. Which one was true...?

Unfortunately, the world was not content to sit by and wait for Kaede to decide. Sakura bowed her head deeply, her voice unwaveringly certain as she spoke. “So then… it seems we have arrived at the truth.”

“It would seem so,” Celeste agreed, her tone almost lamentful. “Unfortunately, it appears that there is little doubt that Kirumi is the killer of this case.”

“... Is that really true, though?” Chiaki pipped up uncertainly, her brow furrowed as she frowned. “There’s still a few mysteries we haven’t solved yet, like the murder weapon. Is it really safe to ignore those and just choose a culprit?”

“Gonta not very smart, but that important, right? Gonta not want to believe Kirumi kill friends again… can mysteries prove she not kill them?” Gokuhara asked hopefully, the idea of her being guilty seeming to pain him even just to say.

Leon nervously tapped a finger against his arm, the wannabe rocker casting a wary look at the gamer. “Does that stuff really matter? I mean, it’s not like it’s gonna change the facts here. She totally killed the guy, right?”

Kaito wore an apprehensive expression, the astronaut almost wincing as he set a hand on his hips. “I dunno… it makes sense, but something feels off about this…”

Shinguji gave a neutral hum, closing his eyes. “I must agree with Leon. As nice as it would be to have the exact details of the crime, at this point, it is hardly a necessity.”

“You’re making a mistake!” Kirumi pleaded, looking around the courtroom for anyone that would take her side. “I swear to you, I’m not the culprit!”

“No, I don’t believe we are,” Celeste coldly replied. The gambler turned from the maid without another word, facing their judge and executioner. “Monokuma, I believe we’re ready to vo-”

** _“NO!”_ **

Celeste stopped dead in her tracks, the gambler spinning in shock as she joined the rest of the class as they gaped at the source of the scream in total bewilderment. “Kaede? What-”

“We can’t vote yet!” Kaede shouted, her heart thundering in her ears like a wardrum. She couldn’t let this happen; not with everything on the line. Not when there was still a shred of hope in her heart. She could already see some of them getting ready to argue with her, forcing her to rush out her reasoning. “Chiaki’s right; there’s way too much we don’t know to vote just yet! If we want to live, we have to get this right, and we can’t do that until we know who the culprit is for sure!” Akamatsu fiercely declared, her swell of panic fueling the fires of determination as she raised her voice louder. “I refuse to just accept that Kirumi’s the killer as long as there’s even a shred of doubt about it! I refuse to believe that our friendship was all a lie!” Kaede bellowed, pointing directly at the maid. “I believe in Kirumi, and that’s why I won’t stop until we expose the full truth of this case!”

Kirumi stared at her in total shock, practically frozen. “... Kaede…” Tojo murmured out, her voice quiet and cautious, as if the blonde would suddenly turn against her if she dared to speak too loud. After a moment, her terrified features eased into a tiny, hopeful -if still clearly uneasy- smile, her eyes gleaming with gratitude. 

“Touching, without a doubt, but belief alone cannot change reality,” Celeste dismissed, her voice so uncaring that it was almost more cruel than if she had a more aggressive response. “No matter how much you may believe in her, Kirumi is our killer. I am completely certain of that, and the evidence supports that conclusion.”

“And what if you’re wrong?!”

The Ultimate Martial Artist sighed wearily, offering a sympathetic look to the group’s leader. “Kaede, I understand that you do not wish for any more death, especially of a friend. However, it is difficult to deny that Kirumi is by far our most likely suspect. All that remains are mysteries we cannot solve outright even with all of the evidence. With everything else we have deduced… drawing out this trial would be cruel, to you and Kirumi.”

“Crueler than killing her and everyone else if you’re wrong?!” Kaede snapped back, her emotions getting the better of her for a moment. 

Gundham gave a soft glare not unlike the scolding look she’d seen him use on Maga-Z on occasion. “You lash out like a wounded tigress, but it matters not. Proof speaks even louder and more enticing than your pleading songs, Siren.”

Tsumugi cringed guiltily as she looked to the floor. “Um, sorry, but Gundham’s right. I plainly don’t think there’s much left to say…”

Kaede felt another harsh refusal on her tongue, but Gundham’s reprimand gave her enough pause to force it down with a forceful exhale. “I know how it looks, but I’m not running away from the truth. If it turns out Kirumi really is the killer…” She forced out, the words tasting like poison. “... Then we’ll do what we have to. But I won’t give up on her even a second before we know that for sure.”

Kaito’s jaw locked, the astronaut giving a firm nod as he crossed his arms. “Kaede’s right. There’s no way we can say we have the truth yet! Just because something makes sense doesn’t mean it’s right! We’ve gotta keep pushing!”

“Gonta agree! Gonta no can stop until Gonta know why Hifumi died!” The Ultimate Entomologist cried out.

Peko shook her head, her crimson gaze as pointed as a blade. “There is nothing further we can prove. Every unanswered question we have left has ended in a dead end, and nothing we’ve uncovered since then can change that. Only the identity of the culprit must be uncovered for our survival. Further debate about mysteries we cannot solve when we know who the killer is would only waste our time.”

“... I’m not so sure of that,” Teruteru muttered, the chef visibly conflicted. Upon noticing that the others had heard him, he awkwardly fumbled out his comb, toying with it distractedly. “Er, it’s just… I’m not so sure ‘Rumi’s the one that did this. The idea that she’d get so close to someone and then just tear their guts out like a slaughter hog? After everything she’s done to help? I… I don’t believe it! That just doesn’t sound like the woman I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know!” Hanamura proclaimed, pumping his rather small arms out in determination. “This trial is like creating a yummy crème caramel or spreading lotion on a gorgeous partner; if you aren’t careful to cover everything you need, then everything is ruined! Until everything is cleared up, I can’t go all the way into any of these girls in good conscience!”

“I don’t want you to do that no matter who the culprit is…” Tsumugi grimaced. Kaede was too focused to bother getting upset by his numerous double entendres, the only part of his speech that mattered to her being the fact that he was fighting for Kirumi too. She would gladly take any allies she could get right now.

The ex-Ultimate Pianist wouldn’t have to wait very long for her next one as a meek voice apprehensively joined into the growing debate. “U-um, I think we should listen to Kaede. Kirumi’s w-way too nice to have done all those terrible things… a-and, even if she were -which she’s not!- th-there’s just something about this that doesn’t feel right...” Mikan hesitantly argued, her voice almost sounding certain through her nervous tremor. 

Leon let out an almost strangled noise, the redhead glaring at them all in baffled annoyance. “Are you guys serious right now? Come on! It’s super obvious she’s playing you guys! Don’t you get that?”

“How do we know the killer ain’t playing us with this?” Mondo gruffed out with a scowl. “I don’t know if Kirumi did it or not, but don’t be a fuckin’ idiot. Endin’ this shit early is exactly what whoever did this wants.”

Korekiyo wrapped his arms around himself as he let out a tisk. “Oh dear… isn’t this troublesome. I’d truly thought the evidence was apparent as being conclusive, yet clearly this is not the case. Belief perseverance is truly a fascinating thing to observe, but it’s troublesome that we seem to be so ** _split_ ** about-”

** _“HOLD ON!”_ **

Once again, a screeching howl broke through banter of the courtroom, sudden and forceful like a freak storm. Practically in unison, the gathering of former murderers spun to face Monokuma, the bear’s paws menacingly raised in the air as he sneered down at them all. Once he was certain every pair of human eyes was locked on him, he covered his snout with his paws in an opaquely terrible job of covering a snicker. “Do my ears deceive me, or did I just hear you say you guys were ** _split_ **?”

Kaede stared at the bear blankly for a moment before realization dawned on her, weariness replacing it soon after. “Oh no…” She muttered under her breath.

“Oh _ YES _ !” Monokuma giddily declared as if he’d managed to hear her from across the room. “That’s right, kiddos! Hohohoho, I’ve been _ dying _ waiting for this! It’s been ages since I got to do it! Ladies and gentlemen, felons and fiends, your captain and the Despair of the Seas are proud to announce the triumphant return of the **morphenomenal trial grounds**!”

“Ah, crap, we’re not seriously doing this_ again _, are we?” Kaito groaned, the resigned annoyance on his face making it clear he had no expectation of his objection mattering. Amongst the blackened not native to the Ultimate Academy, however, bewilderment swept the courtroom. 

“Morphin’ _ what _? The fuck are you talkin’ about?” Mondo demanded.

“Morphenomenal trial grounds!” Monokuma repeated cheerily, practically sing-songing the words out in delight.

“Er… is he having a stroke?” Teruteru pondered, half-cringing and half-intrigued.

“I doubt we are that lucky,” Celeste shot down ruefully. She turned to the Ultimate Astronaut expectantly. “Kaito, you seem to know what he’s talking about. Would you care to elaborate for the rest of us?”

Kaito quirked an eyebrow at her. “Huh? Wait, are you saying none of you guys ever had to do one of these morphing debate things before?” 

Sakura shook her head, crossing her arms. “I do not recall ever undergoing anything like that during our game.”

“Me neither. This is definitely new… I think.” Chiaki chimed in.

“Keheheheh, then it seems this was first an addition to our killing game… how intriguing!” Korekiyo chuckled to himself. Clicking his tongue, he shifted one hand to his podium while he vaguely waved with the other. “For now, however, I would suggest you ready yourselves. The name is not merely one of Monokuma’s thematics.”

“That’s right! Grab a hold, everyone!” Monokuma called out. Moments later, a panel shifted in front of him, spinning to reveal what looked like a nautical steering wheel adorned with the image of Monokuma’s ominous red eye in the center. He grabbed on to either end and started spinning the wheel as fast as his small body could manage, his arms becoming a black and white blur as the image of the eye began to light up. Simultaneously, a faint glow emanated from beneath each of the trial stands. Kaede stumbled slightly as the podium started rocking underneath her once again, the blonde just barely managing to grab onto the podium in front of her before it began slowly levitating higher and higher.

“W-woah!” She gasped out, closing her eyes to try canceling out the sickening, roller-coaster like sensation that flooded over her. Her less prepared peers gave similar cries of surprise, Mikan and Leon’s startled shouts especially sticking out among the growing storm of noise. She sucked in a breath, tightening her grip on her trial stand as she readied herself for the coming debate. Kaede had taken her gamble, and now she had to fight with everything she had to make sure it could pay off. The last time she’d been in this position, she was able to argue Shuichi’s innocence from a place of absolute certainty. Now, when all she had to go on was a desperate hope and pure instinct, the worried hammer of her heartbeat gave a soundtrack to their mutual ascent to the sky. _ “No taking things back now. I could be wrong, but… no, I can’t think like that. I have to believe that Kirumi’s innocent. No matter what, I have to save everyone here!” _

Kaede finally opened her eyes when she finally felt her podium come to a stop to find herself directly across from Celestia Ludenberg, the gothic girl narrowing her eyes with an otherwise blank expression. Joining the Ultimate Gambler was Tsumugi, Leon, Peko, Korekiyo, Sakura and Gundham, Hifumi’s portrait silently sliding into place at the end of the line. Standing opposite from them were Kaede herself, Kirumi, Kaito, Gonta, Teruteru, Chiaki, Mondo, and finally Mikan. Monokuma sat in his throne just past both times, watching them all with his ever-present grin. Each team was floating parallel to one of the massive screens on either end of the courtroom. With every participant finally in place, the screens once again burst to life, a question displayed in large black text lining the top of the screen while each side’s argument rested beneath in red and blue respectively, making it abundantly clear that they were about to begin. Despite that, however, Kaede glanced over to Kirumi, meeting her eye for a moment. The musician mustered a reassuring ghost of a smile and a nod. Tojo silently mirrored the expression, bowing her head thankfully before returning her gaze to the bluenette across from her. With that, they began.

**SHOULD WE VOTE FOR KIRUMI?**

**Yes! No!**

** _SCRUM DEBATE: START!_ **

Celeste took the lead instantly. “Every piece of evidence we’ve **discovered **fits the theory of Kirumi being the killer.”

Chiaki held up a finger. “But there’s a lot we haven’t **discovered **yet…”

Leon crossed his arms with a scowl. “What’s that matter? Knowing the **murder weapon **or whatever won’t change that she killed him!”

Mikan wrung her hands anxiously. “B-but what if the **murder weapon **was something she couldn’t get…?”

Gundham scoffed dismissively. “The **kitchen** has long been Kirumi’s domain. It is hardly impossible that she found her weapon there.”

Mondo sneered back at him. “Mikan already said nothin’ in the **kitchen **coulda been the murder weapon!”

Sakura crossed her arms. “Perhaps, but she also knew about the **lift **before almost anyone else. It’s possible she found a weapon somewhere we didn’t think to look.”

Gonta pumped a fist determinedly. “But Gundham told others about **lift** too…”

Peko’s glasses glinted in the lighting like the edge of a blade. “In his letter, Hifumi said that his target constantly ‘pretends to **help** people’... who better does that apply to then Kirumi?”

Kirumi gently folded her hands in front of her, angling her head downward. “Just because my job is to **help** others doesn’t mean that I’m the only person he could’ve been referring to.”

Korekiyo’s voice slithered out like a hissing snake. “You knew about **Kaede**’s condition. You could easily have exploited that for the sake of her murder.

Teruteru rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. “But didn’t Tsumugi say she noticed something up with **Kaede **too?”

Tsumugi glowered at the chef. “But her being the killer would be a perfect **explanation** for why she wanted to keep Kaede away from her lab…”

Kaito shook his head. “But then there's no **explanation** for things like her leaving that blood stained tablecloth in her own lab!”

Celeste glared at them, her elegantly held hands tensing slightly. “None of those **coincidences **prove that she is innocent. This is a waste of time.”

Kaede matched her glare, pointing at the gambler accusingly. “But none of your **coincidences **prove she’s guilty, either! We can’t know unless we talk this through!”

** _THIS IS OUR ANSWER!_ **

The wail of a triumphant siren split the air as Celeste and her compatriots’ podiums were physically sent flying back, the screens changing in a burst of color to declare the defending team the victors. Seconds later, the stands quickly floated back down into place, Kaede’s podium shifting into the center of the circle. Presumably it was to give her temporary command of the discussion as the leader of the winning side, but regardless of the reasoning, that was exactly how Kaede chose to use it. “Do you get it now, guys? There’s no way we can vote for Kirumi yet when there’s so much up in the air still! If we want to get through this, we have to solve this case through and through!”

“Kaede’s right. Trying to speed-run a trial is a bad idea. Even if an answer seems obvious, voting before we’re absolutely sure is dangerous. We should try to figure things out first.” Chiaki affirmed, the gamer speaking with a certainty that could only have come from experience. 

“... W-well… it probably wouldn’t hurt if we went over the case one more time, right?” Tsumugi lamely backtracked, ever the social chameleon. Kaede couldn’t be too upset; Tsumugi was a flake, but at least that was working out for her at the moment.

Peko thinned her lips. “No, but I fail to see how it will help, either. We still have no way to proceed further.”

Korekiyo laughed dryly. “Keheheh… once again, we find ourselves with no clear way forward and locked in an agreement to not vote for our prime suspect yet. How curious that this exact situation seems to come up again and again,” He noted with what sounded dangerously close to amusement. The anthropologist held up a finger like a lecturing professor. “If history is repeating itself, then I am curious to see how exactly you manage to intend to get us around this dead end, Kaede.”

Kaede opened her mouth to reply, but slowly closed it with a wince as the words failed to come to her. Truth be told, she was in such a rush to stop the vote that she hadn’t really planned out what she would do once she convinced them to wait. The camera trap had been her ace in the hole last time, but now she was genuinely taking a gamble. If she couldn’t figure something out… “W-well, like you said, there’s got to be a way forward. We just have to think about everything we know about the case and try to figure out what doesn’t make sense.”

Ludenberg, who had still been silently glaring at her this whole time, let the anger fade from her face into a completely blank look that somehow seemed more unnerving than her rage. “Considering what we have already deduced and the theory I proposed, that could be easier said than done. Do keep in mind that we’re under a time limit here. Whether you are ready or not, we will have to vote soon. Be aware of who will be deemed the culprit should this prove as fruitless as I expect.”

Akamatsu balled her fists. “I won’t let it come to that.” She tersed out coldly. Silence reigned over the courtroom for a few moments, her peers looking to her to make the first move. Kaede bit her lip. _ “Of course. You’re the leader, at least for now…” _The girl glumly thought to herself, closing her eyes as she tried to think of where to start. It had to be something solid that she could use to punch some holes in the other girl’s theory, but did she have anything solid enough to start building off of…?

Thankfully, someone was a few steps ahead of her. “... There was something I’ve been wondering about for a while now, actually,” Chiaki spoke up, her lips drawn in a small frown as she spoke. “Earlier, we all agreed that the killer had to have known about Mondo’s fight with Kaede, right? If that’s the case, then how exactly did they find out?”

Kaede blinked. “... How they found out…?” She repeated numbly. 

Mondo snapped his fingers. “Oh shit! Yeah! How the hell’d they know about that?!”

Suddenly, her own deductions from earlier hit her like a bus. “That’s right! I was trying to figure that out while we were investigating! With everything going on, I completely forgot!”

Kaito was visibly reinvigorated by the question. “Hey, that’s a good point! There’s no way they shoulda known about that!” He pointed out, rubbing at his goatee as he turned to Mondo and Kaede questioningly. “I mean, it’s not like either of you guys told anyone, right?”

Mondo glared at him. “It’s not really the kinda thing I’d brag about…”

Kaede shook her head instantly. “No one. I didn’t even tell Kirumi.” She reaffirmed, a cold, sickening feeling coming over her. Kaito obviously wouldn’t have told anyone, Mondo was locked in his room all night when the killer would have been setting up the crime scene, and she definitely knew she didn’t tell anyone. But if it wasn’t any of them, then how _ did _they find out?

“If friends not tell anyone about what happened, then killer must have found out another way…” Gonta said mostly to himself, brow furrowed deeply. It was clear the gentle giant was putting his all into trying to solve the mystery despite knowingly being out of his league. Surprisingly, it seemed to pay off as his dark red orbs lit up after a few seconds. “Oh! Gonta have idea! Celeste said Kirumi could have watched Mondo and Kaede fight if she was on second deck. Gonta not think it Kirumi, but maybe real killer did that!”

Kaede let out a hum, closing her arms in thought. “I was thinking something pretty similar. It would have been pretty hard to come around later and just guess what happened off of that, so the killer was probably already around when we fought. But where exactly were they…?”

Kaito scratched at the back of his head. “If they were out in the hallway, there’s no way all three of us would have missed them, right? That probably means they were hiding somewhere…”

“No one gathered here possesses the level of power needed to become invisible to the mortal eye. However, even with such an illusion, it would be difficult to remain undetected while lingering close enough to witness their battle. Their cavernous design would surely give away the footsteps of anyone bold enough to try sneaking past.” Gundham noted, looking off to the side.

Mondo rolled his eyes at the Dark Lord’s nonsense. “‘Course they didn’t turn invisible, dumbass. But, you do have a point. Wide and long as those hallways are, there’s not a ton of places to hide out and watch it all go down. If they were around a corner or something, they’d have to be pretty damn fast and quiet to run away without any of us noticing.”

“... What if the killer didn’t have to, though?”

Kaede looked curiously to her right to find the Ultimate Gamer staring down intently at her monopad. “Hm? Did you figure something out, Chiaki?”

Nanami nodded. “I think so. The killer _ could _have been really fast, but it would’ve made more sense that they simply hid. Looking at the map, there are a couple places they could have been hiding. Take a look.” She instructed, the others curiously pulling out their pads and complying. It didn’t take long before someone spotted what she meant.

“Ah, I see. You are referring to the rooms themselves, yes?” Korekiyo identified almost immediately.

“Yep. A lot of them are too far away to work for what we’re talking about, but if the killer wanted to stay out of sight, staying in one of them would be a lot better than taking their chances in the hallway.”

Mikan nervously pressed her hands together with a slight wince. “Um… that would make sense, but which one were they in when Kaede and Mondo fought…?”

Looking down at the map, Kaede studied the layout of the second deck. _ “That’s the key question isn’t it? There’s a couple places here the killer could have been hiding, but which one were they using…? Actually, wait, hang on…!” _She thought seconds before calling out. “Oh! I’ve got it!”

“Huh? Kaede knows? Could she explain? Gonta not really get it…”

Akamatsu nodded, following along the map with her finger as she explained. “We’ve actually been really overthinking this. Let’s make this easy and start by pointing out where they definitely couldn’t have been hiding. Mondo and I ended our fight here, right outside the side door of Sakura’s lab. If the killer was watching us, there’s no way they could have been hiding in the ballroom, the gift shop, or the boiler room, because they’re all on the other side of the ship in one direction or another. The casino’s closer, but looking at where the door is, the culprit couldn’t have been close enough to see what was happening and still be able to hide in there quickly if they had to,” The makeshift investigator confidently ruled out, feeling more certain of her theory with every word. “I had just been in my lab, and I know for a fact that no one else was in there when I left. Mondo was searching Kirumi’s lab right before we started arguing, so he would have seen anyone in there. Knowing all that, by the time Mondo swung the dumbbell, there’s only one place the killer could have been hiding...”

“... My lab.” Sakura finished, realization dawning on her face.

Chiaki nodded solemnly. “I thought as much. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

A general rumble of surprise sounded in the courtroom as the blackened individually mulled over and commented on the suggestion. “They were in her lab…? Hey, hang on a second. If whoever killed the fatass was in Sakura’s lab and the front door was locked, if you guys didn’t see anyone when you were going over there, then doesn’t that mean they were already in there before you guys got into it? Why’d they be hanging out there?” Leon asked.

Kirumi put a gloved finger to her chin. “Actually, that much is easy to explain. If it is as Celeste suspected, then they were on the second deck in order to prepare for their murder. Considering that Hifumi did in fact die in the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab, they were likely doing just that when Kaede and Mister Owada unknowingly interrupted them.”

“So the culprit was hiding right behind the door the whole time?” Kaito summed up, looking absolutely scandalized as his teeth and fist clenched. “Damn it…! We were feet away from the bastard that did this and never even knew it?!”

“It would seem so, if Kaede’s theory is accurate.” Celeste stated neutrally.

Kaede couldn’t imagine how anything else could be the truth. Short of them somehow crawling around in the air vents, there was nowhere else they could have been hiding close enough to know what they had done and form a plan around it. As frustrating as it was to think that they had only been separated from the killer of this case by a thin sheet of paper, someone skulking inside Sakura’s lab was just what made sense. 

Not everyone saw it that way, however. “It’s true the killer could have been hiding in there, but… isn’t there another explanation?” Tsumugi piped up with a grimace. Kaede turned to her with a puzzling look that spurred the cosplayer to elaborate. “I mean, we know you and Mondo couldn’t have done it, but we never really found anything that proved Kaito couldn’t have done it.”

“Wh-what?! Me?!” Kaito demanded incredulously with clear horror.

Shirogane flinched at the man’s outburst, but continued. “I know we decided that the killer probably had something to do with the tape Hifumi had, but what if it really is just a coincidence? Just because Hifumi said he was going to confront them doesn’t necessarily mean he was doing it that night. Whoever it was might not have even known he was going after them. But, if Kaito was there when everything happened, then he would know about how much Mondo wanted to kill Hifumi. So, if Kirumi didn’t do it, couldn’t he have killed him and set everything up to frame them?”

The Ultimate Astronaut threw out a fist. “There’s no way I’d do something like that!” He bellowed through clenched teeth, his furious expression shifting into a slightly softer, almost disappointed look. “Come on, Tsumugi! I know we **ended on pretty bad terms last time**, but you know me!”

That caught Kaede’s attention, but she didn’t have enough time to so much as wonder what he meant before another voice joined the conversation. “I wouldn’t recommend using character evidence as your defense when everyone here is a known murderer, Kaito,” Korekiyo cautioned. “That said, I find your theory unlikely, Tsumugi. While that is technically possible, there is little evidence that supports the notion compared to our culprit being the target of Hifumi’s ire. Unless you can produce more solid proof implicating him, we don’t have much to go on beyond mere speculation.”

The bluenette frowned, expression hardening a little. “But aren’t we supposed to be bringing up other theories? Kaede wants a chance to prove Kirumi didn’t do it, but that means someone else had to, doesn’t it?”

Kaede thinned her lips at the barb whether it was intentional or not. “That’s true, but I don’t think he did it… and I think I can prove it, too,” The blonde boldly countered. It was a bit of a long shot, but if her theory was right, then it could be the start of the end for the culprit. With that knowledge burning in her chest like an engine, she pushed forward. “Kiyo, when we found the blood stain in Sakura’s lab, you said it was a few hours old, right?”

Shinguji nodded confirmingly. “Yes, **approximately six hours** prior to our investigation. Without the proper equipment, however, it could well have been a few hours older than I presumed.”

Kaede returned the nod as the first piece clicked into place. “Right. And Mikan, you said you were absolutely positive that Hifumi’s head was crushed a long time after he died?”

Tsumiki winced slightly. “A-ah, um, yes. The blood around his head wounds was much thicker than normal, so that means he was already dead for a few hours when that happened…” The nurse calmly explained, her voice level and unshaken as she spoke for once. As Kaede’s eyes lit up, however, she assumed the worst as her own hazy lavender orbs bulged. “O-oh no! I-I didn’t make a mistake, did I?!” She cried out fretfully, making the much more confident girl shake her head.

“No, you didn’t. Actually, I think you’re absolutely right. If the blood we found on my piano was that different from the blood on the gravel because of how long he was dead when it spilled, then that means the killer would have had to wait for some reason between killing him and doing what they did to the body. But,” Akamatsu held up a finger argumentatively. “If Kaito was the killer, there’d be no reason for him to not do it right after killing Hifumi. Mondo was locked in his room and everyone else was asleep, so he could have done it whenever he wanted. Hanging around with the body when he didn’t have to would have been a bad idea if anyone did wander upstairs, but he would probably already have been planning on framing Mondo and I if he killed Hifumi because of our fight. It doesn’t make any sense when we think about the timing between Hifumi dying and ending up in my lab.”

“What you say makes sense… but, if that’s true, then what reason did the first killer have to wait, either?” Sakura questioned. The Ultimate Martial Artist looked to be more or less sold on the explanation, requiring only a small clarification to fully accept it.

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot since the investigation, and with everything we know about this case, there’s only one explanation that makes sense…” Kaede began as she fought to ignore the subtle creep of hesitation slithering and coiling around her. This was the only possible explanation, but it still seemed so shocking to think despite being the one to come up with the theory. It was sickening to even think about, but with the facts laid out before her, she couldn’t afford to ignore what it all pointed to. Gathering her resolve, Kaede declared the shocking truth. “By the time our fight ended, Hifumi was already dead.”

A suffocating silence took over the courtroom, not a soul daring to speak. Compared to the other twists in the trial, the reactions weren’t quite so dramatic this time, a number of the quicker-witted students clearly having reached the same conclusion. Most of the former blackened were still visibly taken aback, however, including the man that wanted Hifumi dead more than anyone else. “What the… you’re sayin’ someone killed the bastard right next to us?” Mondo asked, legitimately surprised.

Kaede nodded. “I am. If the killer was already in there with Hifumi’s body, then they could have heard us through the door no problem. They’d probably be pretty cautious about leaving any time soon after hearing other people around, but once they were sure no one was around, they had all the time they needed to do whatever they wanted with the body… and the perfect people to pin it on. It’s the only way to explain the killer knowing about our fight _ and _the different blood in each lab.”

Teruteru shot her a confused look, quirking his eyebrow up. “It does explain both, but... wait, that doesn’t really make sense, does it?” He prompted, rubbing at his chin with a small smirk. “I’ll admit that I was having a bit of trouble focusing at the time, what with being sandwiched between two beautiful ladies as they were going at it with all their passion-” Kaede forced down the urge to gag at his lurid description. “-but didn’t you say that door wasn’t locked? Being in there with a dead body would be really bad for them, don’t you think?”

Leon’s brow furrowed, the athlete angling his head to the side as he scrutinized the musician. “Yeah, wouldn't that be way too risky? I mean, if anyone just walked over and opened the door, they’d get caught red-handed! Probably literally!”

Mondo perked up at that, his greyish eyes glinting with a doubtful certainty. Whatever he was thinking, however, didn’t get the chance to leave his mouth. “An apt observation, Leon. The only explanation is that, if Kaede's theory is true, the killer had some method of ensuring no one could enter at an inopportune time...” Korekiyo hummed, his snakish eyes closing in consideration. “Of course, given what we established about the doors earlier, this raises a curious contradiction.”

Celeste lightly crossed her arms, looking off to the side thoughtfully. “Indeed. Monokuma made it quite clear that he did not change the locks on Sakura’s door, and yet we know for certain that the side entrance was **unlocked **prior to and during the investigation. So, to put it simply, you're suggesting that the culprit somehow locked the door in order to keep themselves and the body hidden until the coast was clear, and then left it unlocked upon departing?”

“So the killer managed to lock the door, huh? That’d explain why it wouldn’t budge...” Mondo said mostly to himself, muttering the last part as the biker rubbing at his chin. After a second, his eyes bulged out as he quickly swerved his gaze to Sakura, absolute shock clear in his expression before he even blurted out his conclusion. “Wait... then that means the culprit must be-!”

The Ultimate Swordswoman cut him off with a sharp glare and sharper tone. “No. There's too much evidence that wouldn't make sense for Sakura to leave behind for her to be the culprit in this case.”

“I also would have no reason to kill Hifumi, let alone use such a complicated method to do what could easily be done with my strength alone…” Ogami added with an unimpressed look.

Kaede nodded, shooting a look towards the somewhat overzealous criminal. “I agree with them. I don't think there's any reason for Sakura to leave behind the grate or mess with the weights if she were the culprit in this case. Besides, she doesn’t line up with the person on the tape. The case only makes sense if someone else is the culprit, so-”

**“RIDE OR DIE!”**

** **

Kaede startled at Mondo’s sudden roar, turning to find him staring at her incredulously. Before she could so much as say his name, the man was launching into his argument. “C'mon, Kaede! You can’t be tellin’ me you forgot what happened last night!”

The blonde shook her head uncomprehendingly at the biker. “Wh-what happened last night...? Mondo, what are you talking about?”

The Ultimate Biker sneered for a moment, but his annoyed look faded away to a light frown just as soon as it came to him. “Tch… guess I can't blame ya for forgettin’, given all the shit that you went through…” He muttered, his podium doing a poor job of hiding his clenching fist. After a moment, it released, Owada shaking his head with a sigh. “Alright. I'll get ya up to speed, and explain why Sakura is the only person here who could've pulled this off!”

Kaede stared at Mondo with thinned lips, silently trying to figure out what exactly the biker was thinking. _ “We already ruled Sakura out, but Mondo’s still insisting it was her… is there something he noticed that we didn’t, or do I have something that can definitely prove him wrong...?” _

** _CROSSBLADE DEBATE_ **

Mondo put his hands on his hips, bowing his head.

“It's not like I like callin’ a chick out...

But when you think over what happened last night...

The only possible person who could've pulled it off...

Had to be the person with the key to Sakura's lab!

I mean, you saw the proof of it with your own two eyes…”

Owada looked up, throwing his hand to the side with a hard look.

“So you and I would know that better than anyone else here!”

** _ADVANCE!_ **

Kaede raised her eyebrows skeptically at the Ultimate Biker.

“‘I saw it with my own two eyes?’

What exactly did I see, Mondo?”

Mondo’s gaze hardened into a light glare.

“Remember what happened before we got into it?

I was trying to get Sakura's side door open,

Yet no matter how hard I pulled, the fuckin’ thing wouldn't budge!

The only way someone could pull that off...

Is if they were able to lock the door!

And since the only way to do that is with the ** _key to the lab_ **...

Then that means the killer had to be the one with the key to the lab!

And the only person who had that key is Sakura!”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede crossed her arms at him, shaking her head. “You’re wrong, Mondo. I do remember that you tried opening the door last night. It definitely didn’t give, so it had to be locked… but that doesn’t mean the killer actually used the key. There’s something else they could have done to keep it from opening.”

“What, are ya sayin’ the killer just held it from the other side?” Mondo said with a slight sneer. “‘Cause the only ones here who’d have a chance of keeping it in place against me would be Sakura and the big dude, but ya just said you think whoever did it couldn’t lift shit!”

Tsumugi let out a loud gasp. “Oh! Maybe the killer has incredible strength sometimes, but due to an injury from an old rival, they can only use it for so long before becoming as weak as an old man!”

Kaede barely reacted to Shirogane’s non sequitur. “Um, no. There’s no way they held the door themselves, but there’s something they could have used to do it for them. In Sakura’s lab, we noticed one of the bo staffs looked a little scuffed, like something put the thing through a beating. I thought maybe it was just wear and tear from Sakura’s training, but thinking about it now, it could be because the killer used it to block the door,” The former Ultimate Pianist deduced, raising an open palm as if the answer were physically in her grasp. “Think about it: both of the doors to Sakura’s lab slide open, right? So, if something got in the way of its track, the door wouldn’t be able to move. Anyone inside the lab could basically lock the entire room even without having the key. The reason the edges looked a little screwed up was because they were pressed up against the wall and the door-”

“And so they got bent outta shape when I started shakin’ and slammin’ the thing,” The Ultimate Biker finished, realization painting his voice. The tension in his shoulders faded away at the same time his annoyance did as the faults in his logic became apparent. A thoughtful look had replaced the irritated curl of his lip, but a slight grimace took its place soon after. “... Which means Sakura probably ain’t the killer. Shit… sorry, man.”

Ogami nodded acknowledgingly. “Suspicion is necessary in our situation, however unfortunate. Whatever leads us closer to the killer must be endured.”

Chiaki folded her hands in front of her, a discerning expression hardening her usually friendly features. “I think this is really important. The Monokuma File said Hifumi died at some point during nighttime, so that puts it at ten PM at the earliest possible point. If Hifumi was dead when Kaede, Mondo, and Kaito met up, then depending on when that happened, we can narrow down the timeframe he was killed in… Kaede, you said you left your lab about twenty after eleven, right?”

Kaede hummed uncertainly. “I did, but it’s kind of a rough guess. With everything going on, none of us really thought to check the time. Kaito mentioned while we were looking around that he’s pretty sure it was about half-past eleven, give or take a few minutes.”

“That _ does _ line up with Kaito’s alibi and the distance from the dorms to the lab…” Peko affirmed, looking to be in deep consideration. “... Hm. I see. Giving a ten-minute margin of error, the absolute latest those three could have met was **eleven-forty** . Sakura stated that she was using her lab until **ten-thirty ** last night. That gives us an **hour and ten-minute period** where Hifumi could have been killed.”

Tojo thinned her lips, her visible eye narrowing to a certain stare. “Then at some point between **ten-thirty PM and eleven-forty PM**, the killer traveled to the second deck and entered Miss Ogami’s lab. Assuming Mister Yamada was not already there, he arrived at the room an unknown amount of time later and was killed, at which point the killer likely noticed others were on the second deck or overheard Kaede and Mister Owada’s struggle and blocked the door with the bo staff. After another indeterminate period, they started enacting their plan to move the body. Is that an accurate account of your theory so far, Kaede?”

“Yeah, that’s right. With everything we know about the case, I’m positive it must have happened during that period.”

“Yes… that does make sense. Regardless of when Hifumi was killed, being in your lab would have thrown a wrench into their schemes. However, I have to wonder if that is the staff’s only involvement in this crime...” The Ultimate Anthropologist mused, much to her confusion. Someone else suggested the same before she had a chance to question what he meant.

“That’s something I’m kinda wondering about too, actually. The thing was used as a doorstop, sure, but aren’t the scratch marks on the thing kind of weird?” Kaito wondered aloud, slightly confused. “I mean, even if Mondo was shaking that thing with all he had, would it have gotten all those marks just scraping against the doorframe?”

Sakura closed her eyes. “That is odd, to say the least. Bamboo is deceptively strong and not easy to damage by any means. While I can understand the ends becoming frayed after Mondo’s treatment of it, it should not have scratched simply from basic usage.”

Leon scratched at his head. “Couldn’t it have just been like that the whole time, though?”

Peko crossed her arms “Doubtful. I examined each of the weapons in Sakura’s lab to determine how dangerous they might be, the staffs included, and I do not remember it being damaged at all.

“So the culprit must have used it for something else, too,” Chiaki reasserted. “Which means that we have to figure out what exactly that was… I think. Does anyone have any ideas on where to start?”

Surprisingly, Kuwata was the first to volunteer. “Actually, hey! I think I mighta just thought of something! Hear me out!”

_ “Leon has an idea… is it bad I already get the feeling it’s wrong?” _ Kaede pondered, squashing a tiny smile that threatened to form at the thought. She bit her lip with a small shake of her head. _ “Well, I should hear out any ideas that come up. Even if he’s not entirely right, there might be something we can figure out from it.” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“So Hifumi was totally in Sakura’s lab when he was attacked, right? Well, maybe when he figured out what was up, he **grabbed the thing **and tried defending himself! The cuts are from whatever ended up stabbing him!” The Ultimate Baseball Star confidently declared as he pumped both fists.

“No, there would have been more **evidence of a struggle** if that happened.” Korekiyo dismissed.

“They probably would have been more careful with leaving that kind of evidence if they knew it showed Hifumi tried to fight…” Chiaki agreed, making Leon’s face fall to a pout.

Sakura butted in before the other athlete could voice any sort of complaint. “Then if it wasn’t used to protect against the killer’s attack, then what did cause the damage?”

“Oh! Maybe it’s the other way around and the bo staff **was the murder weapon**?” Tsumugi proposed. 

Korekiyo gave her a flat look. “And how pray tell did a blunt staff stab the victim?”

Shirogane deflated a little. “Ah… I got a little wrapped up in the moment.”

Teruteru smirked deviously at her. “Just because something’s _ hard and penetrating _doesn’t mean it can actually stab you, ‘Mugi. I can prove it to you!”

Celeste stared at him blankly. “Please _ hold your breath and suffocate _.”

Choosing to ignore their banter, Kirumi held her head in thought. “Perhaps it was damaged while ** _pressing against something_ **?”

“I-isn’t that what Kaito said wouldn’t make sense, though?” Mikan shyly questioned.

** _CONSENT!_ **

Kaede held up a finger determinedly. “Actually, I think I know exactly what could have done that! There’s something else we found that was scratched up like the staff, isn’t there?”

Tojo’s eyes slowly widened, the maid’s head tilting slightly to the side. “... Are you referring to the broken ramp, Kaede?”

“Yep, that’s right. Remember how much trouble we had trying to figure out how Hifumi made it out of the cart? Maybe it was giving us a problem because we didn’t think that the killer was using something else to help push him out,” Akamatsu advanced, holding out a hand. “Think about it. Hifumi was a pretty heavy guy, and we agreed the killer probably wasn’t very strong. If they were dedicated to getting his body hunched over the piano, they’d have to use whatever they could to help move him. If they had the bo staff between his body and the grate, then that’d make it easier to push him up and forward, but they still wouldn’t be able to deal with the cart pushing forward. So, while they were getting him out of the cart, the ramp was scraping against the floor and the staff, scratching both of them up until he finally fell forward and the ramp broke. That’s how it got damaged!”

Gonta’s brow furrowed deeply. “Uh… Gonta lost. Sorry…”

“The Siren’s High Priestess claims that Hifumi’s body was barreled into hell itself with the borrowed strength of the ancient scepter of Sun Wukong, tearing it asunder!” Tanaka roared unhelpfully, only baffling the entomologist further. 

“The killer lifted Hifumi up by pushing down on the bo staff, but accidentally scratched it while moving him.” Chiaki translated immediately after.

Gonta grinned widely. “Ah! Thank you, Chiaki!”

Whether the clarification helped the others or not, Kaede’s explanation seemed to start sinking in, some faces lighting up in realization while others gave more pensive expressions. Sakura was among the latter as she looked at the ex-pianist consideringly for a long moment. “... That would explain the scratches. However, I’m not certain the killer would have been able to push Hifumi’s body as you suggest.”

“What do you mean? Wouldn’t using the staff for leverage make it a lot easier?” Kaede questioned.

Ogami folded her arms, closing her eyes sagely. “Considerably, yes. But if the killer was too weak to handle even moderate weights, I doubt they could manage to lift Hifumi even with that advantage. It would simply be too much weight for them to handle alone.”

“Handle alone…?” Tsumugi repeated hesitantly repeated, her skin taking on a faint shade of blue. “Do you mean there’s still a chance the killer had an accomplice after all? Is one of us really-”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

Sakura opened one eye, leveling a questioning gaze at the Ultimate Gamer. “... I do not disagree, but you sound rather certain. Is there something you’ve realized, Chiaki?”

Nanami maintained a relatively neutral expression as she spoke, though it was tinted by the same serious, vaguely sad air she'd had since the investigation began. "Well, having someone as an accomplice wouldn't make much sense with everything we learned. After all, the culprit probably killed Hifumi over the secret on their tape, so why would they get someone else involved with the murder? They wouldn't have risked someone else finding out what they did before, let alone after becoming the blackened… I think," Chiaki explained, the weight of her deductions somewhat hampered by that ever-present verbal tik. She paused, adjusting the straps on her backpack before meeting Ogami's gaze head on. "Besides, I think there's **something the killer left behind ** that might be able to prove Kaede's theory. **”**

Kaede looked at the petite girl curiously. _ “Something the killer left behind…? It couldn’t have been the ramp itself. I don’t see how the lift would have helped, either. The only thing I can think of is…” _She hesitated for a moment before taking her gamble. “... Do you think this has something to do with someone messing with the dumbbells in Sakura’s lab?”

The pink-haired Ultimate smiled slightly. “Mhmm. Hifumi probably would have been too heavy to push up on their own even with the staff, but if they had something to help balance out the weight, then it would be doable. The killer probably saw the dumbbells while they were hiding in the lab, so when they were having trouble pushing him up, they came back and grabbed the heaviest ones they could pick up. They probably didn’t know how much they would actually lift or how much weight was needed, though, so they had to try moving them around and then keep coming back to get more…”

“... And during the process of all this, they likely failed to notice the pattern they were arranged in originally, or at least forgot to restore it to such afterwards. Correct?” Celeste finished, looking at Chiaki almost expectantly.

“Yes. That’s what makes sense to me.”

Ludenberg seemed to consider it for a moment. “... Perhaps. Given our killer’s strength, however, how do you propose they transported the weights to Kaede’s lab, or used them to push down on the staff for that matter?”

Kaede thought back to Sakura’s lab for a moment. There wasn’t a whole lot that could be useful for doing something like that, but… “... Maybe they used the duffle bags in the gym? It wouldn’t be all that easy, but they could put some of the weights inside, carry the bag over, and then hang them from the bo staff until there was enough weight on their side between the bags and themself to push Hifumi over.” The musician theorized. She wasn’t amazing at math, but from her understanding of physics, it made enough sense. She was good enough at it for that stupid trap to have worked, anyway…

Kirumi tapped a finger against her lips in thought. “Hmm… all of the weights used were **below ** forty pounds, but if the culprit used multiple weights up to that, they could theoretically have had up to **one hundred and eighty pounds **split between however many duffle bags they used. With the dumbbells, their own weight, and the leverage from the staff, I believe they would have had enough total force to push Mister Yamada’s body.”

“I believe so as well. I’ve used a similar method in the past, albeit with some notable differences. Overall, using the staff and weights in such a way should be able to achieve the killer’s goal.” Korekiyo affirmed, drawing dirty and uncomfortable looks from Kaito and Gonta respectively. The rest of the courtroom was less concerned about the context of Kiyo’s knowledge and more focused on the anthropologist’s words themselves.

Sakura let out a rumbling hum. “I see… so, it was possible for the killer. Then I accept this theory.”

Kaito rested a hand on his hip. “That clears up everything we didn’t get about the lab, right?”

The Ultimate Swordswoman shook her head. “No, there is one matter we have yet to resolve: why was Mondo’s dumbbell planted with the others?” 

Leon looked at her like she was an idiot. “Isn’t it pretty obvious they were trying to frame him?”

“Maybe, but doing so also meant leaving behind clear evidence that they were aware of his argument with Kaede, which is the entire basis of our discussion now. The circumstantial evidence already pointed to him without it. If anything, it’s backfired and made finding the true killer more possible,” Peko argued, her red eyes slowly making their way across the court. “If the culprit was intelligent enough to come up with a scheme like this in the first place, why would they make such an obvious mistake?”

“Hmph… perhaps some lowly imp discovered it and left it amongst the rest of the evidence as an omen of the killer’s scheme. If that is the case, however, this being was aware of it before anyone else and has been hiding that dire truth from us… bah! Coward!” Tanaka hissed.

The idea left a bitter taste in Kaede’s mouth. _ “Someone knew this whole time and didn’t say anything…? That’s gotta be wrong. There’s no way anyone here would be selfish enough to keep that kind of information to themselves even when we were about to have a vote, right? Not even Kokichi would be that reckless...” _She tried to reassure herself, hating how difficult it was to believe her own words.

Before that train of thought could get much steam, however, Kaito shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think that’s it. No one here’s that stupid. Besides, there’s something else that explains it just as easily!” He proclaimed confidently. At Kaede’s questioning look, he elaborated. “We already said that the killer wasn’t paying attention to how things were in the lab, right? Then they probably didn’t know that Mondo’s dumbbell came from somewhere else and just assumed it belonged with the others even if it looked different! They messed up without realizing it, and that’s why they put it there!”

Akamatsu felt her lips curl downwards. “After all that effort, they just made a tiny mistake like that, and that’s why we found out? Can it really be that simple?”

“Speaking from experience, yes. It’s entirely possible…” Kirumi said stiffly, an unreadable expression on her face.

Mondo locked his jaw as he glanced away from his fellow murderers. “Tch… so, what? The killer just fucked up and that’s it?”

“Maybe it was just to throw us off? I mean, isn’t that why Peko thought there was an accomplice in the first place?” Tsumugi reminded, cupping her cheek with an uneasy expression.

“I believe you are overthinking this,” Celeste chided, silencing the courtroom. Her expression was flat, an indeterminable look in her eyes as she folded her hands in her lap. “Whatever purpose the killer or someone else had in placing the evidence there matters little compared to the fact that it _ is _ there. Only facts of this case matter…” She dismissed as her hard crimson eyes locked with Kaede’s magenta own. “And, in the end, the facts have not changed. We are still precisely where we were when you insisted on Kirumi’s innocence. Nearly a full hour of debate has passed with nothing to show for it.”

“Nothing to show for it?!” Kaito squawked out in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?! We’ve solved a bunch of loose ends _ you _ said were pointless!”

“And it’s clear that I was correct,” Ludenberg shot back coldly, sparing the astronaut only a momentary glance before addressing the gathered students as a whole. “Tell me, what evidence have we uncovered that disrupts any part of my theory? I will freely admit that we have a more clear picture of the specific sequence of events of the crime and the methods the culprit used, but there has been nothing that proves that Kirumi could not have done it.”

Mondo narrowed his eyes warningly at her. “We also haven’t found anything proving you didn’t do it, either. So what?”

The goth met his glare unwaveringly. “I’m not the one with nearly all the evidence against me at the moment.”

“Hold on! Just because we haven’t yet doesn’t mean we won’t! There’s still a few things we haven’t figured out yet!” Kaede called out in protest, the gambler curling her lip in response.

“You mean the murder weapon and the tablecloth, yes?” She correctly assessed. Kaede didn’t even get to fully nod before being cut off. “Then do you have any ideas about what was used to kill him?”

Kaede opened her mouth to respond, only to hesitate as she found no words would come forth. In truth, she still had no clue about what could have been used. She racked her brain for possible answers she could spout off to appease the other girl to little success. “W-well, no, but-”

“Did you or anyone else discover where that tablecloth may have come from?” Celeste pressed expectantly.

Teruteru grimaced as he uneasily tapped his fingers together. “... I’ve got to admit, the ones in the cafe didn’t match…” The chef reluctantly conceded.

“There didn’t seem to be any missing in the ballroom or dining hall, either…” Chiaki added with a frown.

A beat of silence passed before Ludenberg continued. “... Then it seems we have no leads for where that might have come from, either.”

Kirumi looked at Celeste evenly, only a small frown and her knitted eyebrows hinting at her thoughts. “Perhaps, but rushing to a vote won’t shed any light on those inconsistencies, Miss Ludenberg.”

Celeste hummed. “Perhaps not, but it hardly matters. As I pointed out previously, we are not mandated to solve the case in full.”

Kaede glared at her bitterly. “That doesn’t mean we can just give up! There’s got to be a solution here, and if you’d just stop rushing us, we’d be able to find it!” The musician shouted out, throwing a hand to the side in frustration. 

“We already _ have _our solution. You simply refuse to acknowledge it. You said you were willing to do what was needed when the time came, Kaede. Unless that was another lie, now is the time to follow through on that.” Ludenberg coldly rebuked, provoking Kaede even further.

“You don’t-!”

“Enough!” Sakura bellowed commandingly. Her arms were clenched tightly in warning as she fixed both of them with a hard look. Once she was sure neither of them would try talking back, she gave them an ultimatum. “... I cannot claim to know for certain who the killer is, nor can anyone else. The only thing we can know for certain is what fits the evidence. Kaede has proven a number of things we would not have known without her insistence. Casting out her findings as pointless is foolish. That said, if we truly have hit a dead end, we have no choice but to continue forward with what we do know. So, that is what we will do,” The martial artist firmly declared as she turned to the Ultimate Gambler completely. “Celeste. If you are certain of Kirumi’s guilt, then explain every step of the crime we are aware of and convince us,” She ordered, and to the ex-pianist’s surprise, turned to her immediately afterwards. “But if Kaede or anyone else finds any flaws in your reasoning, we **will **discuss it until solved. Once all possible discussions are exhausted, and only then, will we vote. Agreed?”

Kaede stared at her, stunned. That still left her and Kirumi in a _ terrible _position, but it was infinitely better than what Sakura had been saying earlier. She still had a shot to uncover the truth of this case, if she played her cards right… Akamatsu nodded. “Y-yeah. Alright. That’s the fairest thing we can do.”

Celeste looked considerably less pleased with Sakura’s deal, hints or irritation showing through her carefully maintained mask. “This is pointless…” She groused before closing her eyes and taking a quiet breath. “But, if you insist, fine. Just this once, I’m willing to repeat myself and prove why Kirumi must be the culprit.”

_ “We’re out of leads, but we’re so close to the truth… there _ ** _has _ ** _ to be something we can work off of! This can’t be how it ends!” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“Let us go over the case one more time,” Ludenberg began, her annoyance fading away to perfect neutrality. “At some point, Hifumi received a motive video depicting the murder of someone here that he thought a great deal about.”

Korekiyo carried it on at Celeste’s momentary pause. “Seeing it left him filled with rage and determination to stop them, **as his note ** made abundantly clear. Whether by invitation or confrontation, both the victim and culprit ended up in Sakura’s lab **between ten-thirty and eleven-forty **last night…”

“It is there where the late Yamada met his end upon a yet **unknown weapon**, and where one who slayed him hid upon discovering others souls wandering the second deck…” Gundham rumbled.

Mondo looked off to the side in thought. “Once me, Kaede, and Kaito were gone, they used the **lift, staff, ** and ** cart** to bring the guy over to Kaede’s lab and dump the body over there…”

“And after some trouble getting him in position, the culprit used the piano’s keylid to disguise the cause of death and started getting to work on covering it up,” Chiaki concluded, an unconvinced look on her face. “That’s definitely how the crime happened, but I don’t see how that rules out _Celeste_ or _Tsumugi_ from being the killer.”

Leon crossed his arms, glancing at the Ultimate Maid as he spoke. “But Kirumi’s the one with a bunch of shady coincidences piling up, right?”

Tsumugi anxiously rubbed at her elbow. “She knew where to get a lot of the stuff the killer used, tried to go where the body was alone, and even told Kaede **not to investigate**…”

“None of those coincidences are proof even stripped of their context as they are here. Unfortunate, I’ll concede, but not evidence.” Kirumi denied.

Celeste gave a small hum as she resumed control. “But they can hardly be ignored, either, especially given that you also knew about Kaede’s fear well before anyone else, which just so happened to be a central part of the case. You were also keeping notes of everyone’s movements,” She accused, narrowing her eyes at the silver-haired servant. “Between all of those ‘coincidences’, you simply _ make the most sense as the culprit _.”

“Gonta not understand, though! If Kirumi killer, then why move Hifumi and smash his head? That leave big mess and lots of evidence, didn’t it?” Gokuhara pointed out.

The Ultimate Gambler didn’t bat an eye. “To _ frame Mondo and Kaede _ , of course. She overheard their argument from inside the lab, and knowing neither of them were likely to confess to it easily, planned on staging the body in a way that could implicate either, After all, Mondo’s attempt on Kaede’s life and Hifumi ** _murdering his so-called bro_ ** would make him the perfect scapegoat for the crime.”

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede’s eyes shot wide open in surprise. She didn’t mishear that, did she? The words were crystal clear, yet she was reeling as if she’d been slapped, unable to believe what just happened. “Wha… wait, hang on a second… Celeste, what you just said doesn’t make any sense.”

Celestia looked at her in light exasperation. “Come now, Kaede. You should know better than anyone how much Mondo wanted revenge for that.”

The former Ultimate Pianist shook her head. “No, Mondo wanting revenge for Taka makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how you know about that.”

Slowly, Celeste’s eyes widened by just a hair, something unreadable flashing across her expression before instantly vanishing. After several seconds, she hesitantly spoke up. “... Excusez moi?”

_ “So she’s going to try playing dumb… alright then. I know how to prove it.” _

“When we first got our memories back, we found out pretty quickly that if any of us couldn’t remember something about their murder, no one that outlived them could, either. When that happened, you and Hifumi said something pretty interesting…”

***

_ A scowl overtook Celeste’s pale white features. "However, I must confess I too cannot recall my murder either. Even the victim is a blur-" _

_ "Really? Me too, mistress!" Hifumi piped up for the first time since the flashback light went off, his unnerving enthusiasm only slightly dimmed. _

_ Celeste's calm mask had enough cracks that a strong gust of wind could shatter it. "Quite," She tersed out. Closing her eyes for a moment, it was like her entire body reset, all traces of annoyance gone by the time her red orbs reappeared. The gambler's tone was as inquisitive as her analyzing gaze when she asked, "As I was saying, I would like to know more about my murder. May I have an explanation?" _

***

Kaede crossed her arms as her gaze hardened. “Both of you insisted you couldn’t remember anything about your murders, but if that was true, then there’s no way you should know who Hifumi killed.”

The gothic gambler’s brow creased for the slightest moment before vanishing as she shook her head. “Nonsense. It was simply deductive reasoning. Mondo said Hifumi killed someone he cared about, and Kiyotaka was the person he was closest to in our game, so-”

A shuddering ** _thwump _ **rang out as Mondo’s fist slammed down against his podium. “Bullshit! Makoto, Hina, Taka, I coulda meant any of them, but you were damn certain when you said that! Why?!”

Celeste remained perfectly still, unflinching in the face of Mondo’s wrath, but Kaede could see her hands tighten into each other. The blonde didn’t give her the chance to talk her way out of it. “Kaito and I knew because Mondo told us, and he knew because he had Hifumi’s tape. No one else should have known for sure… so how did you?” Kaede demanded with a glare.

A beat passed. The another. Everyone stared at the stone-faced girl expectantly as the seconds dragged on, their gazes growing less trusting with each passing moment. Kaito let out a growl. “Well? Say something already! If you’ve got something that shows you didn’t find out from behind that door, then you have to-”

“I lied.”

Two simple words silenced the Ultimate Astronaut’s heated demands in an instant. The others were much the same, a stunned quiet falling over all of them for several seconds. Kaede blinked, half wondering if she’d simply imagined what she’d heard. “... Huh?”

“I lied,” Celeste repeated dully. Her expression hadn’t changed in the slightest, but her voice had become bland and monotone, confessing to deceiving them all as if she were reading a textbook. The shocked stares of her fellow blackened hardly phased her as she leveled them all with a perfectly flat look and elaborated. “I knew who Hifumi killed the moment I regained my memories… and who I killed as well. After seeing how surviving someone’s trial doesn’t impede whatever memory loss Monokuma has given some of us, when Sakura confessed that she could not remember her victim, I took a gamble and pretended I couldn’t either. Hifumi, being the sort that he was, latched onto my lie instantly, not bothering to think out the consequences… but, in the end, I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered one way or the other. My chances were the same either way: either she would truly be in the dark about my crime, or in the event that she did remember, would remain silent anyway.”

Sakura folded her arms, glowering at Ludenberg. “And what made you so sure of that?” She demanded threateningly.

Whatever reaction she was hoping to spur from the gambler, she didn’t get it. “It’s not as if you had anything to gain by outing my lie if you did remember. Though I can’t speak for what happened after my trial, I know that you were among the most opposed to the killing game in the time we spent together. You would not publicly expose either of us if you thought it was likely to spark a murder.” She dismissed with absolute certainty. The way Ogami’s eyes darkened at that confirmed its accuracy. 

“... Um… but if both of you actually remembered, th-then why doesn’t Sakura…?” Mikan shyly questioned.

The Ultimate Martial Artist closed her eyes with a frown. “That is something I too would like to know…”

Monokuma let out an exaggerated hum as he tapped a paw against his head. “Hmm, strange, isn’t it? I wonder what it could mean. Maybe she’s lying to you guys and actually does remember, or maybe she took a bonkin’ to the noggin’ and really doesn’t… puhuhu, isn’t the silence just _ killing _you guys?”

“Would you just shut the hell up already?! You’re wasting our time!” Momota shouted as he glared daggers into the bear.

Kaede took the opportunity to retake control of the conversation. “Kaito’s right; we can’t let Monokuma’s nonsense get in the way. There’s more important things to focus on,” The blonde commanded unwaveringly before turning her narrowing gaze on the Ultimate Gambler. “Like that fact that Celeste lied to all of us, and has been for a while now.”

The goth’s ruby eyes narrowed slightly. “Isn’t it rather hypocritical for you to decry me for lying with everything you tried to hide from us, Kaede?” She asked, her tone polite on the surface, but a river of biting venom just below the surface. That wouldn’t deter the musician, however, as she crossed her arms in turn.

“I might be a hypocrite, but only as much as you. You knew what Hifumi did and how Mondo would react, but you still tried saying only the culprit could know. Why did you try to cover that up?”

“Because we had nothing to gain from revealing it. Mondo has already been ruled out as a culprit, and even before he was, showing my cards would likely have done more harm than good,” Celeste countered with an almost bored expression. A tiny smile slowly quirked at her lips. “Hm. In that way, I suppose you could say we both lied for the same reason.”

Mondo scowled at her, sneering. “Sounds to me like you’re just covering your ass.”

Ludenberg let out a tisk. “If that is how you choose to see it, I cannot stop you. What I’ve said is, however, the truth.”

Korekiyo’s amused voice echoed through the courtroom. “The truth, as stated by the self-proclaimed Queen of Liars... I believe even you can appreciate the irony of that.”

Celeste had nothing to say to that, merely maintaining a dignified silence. The others were considerably less inclined to conceal their thoughts as many of them openly gazed at her in suspicion, ranging from uneasy side-eyes to flat-out glares. Mondo’s menacing gaze in particular stood out, his often explosive rage absent in favor of a quiet but intimidating anger that was almost more frightening than the alternative. Kaede could hear some of the others muttering jeers and wary observations under their breath, but the hall was otherwise almost entirely silent. The suffocating tension beginning to build made it clear that whatever status of authority Celeste had garnered had been shattered just as Kaede before her. If that bothered her, however, she refused to show it, fixing them all with the same cold and even stare that exuded absolute certainty. Just as it seemed like she was well and truly ignoring them, she finally spoke. “... At any rate, I have established how I could have known about Hifumi’s murder without being the culprit. I was aware of it from the start of this game, and thus I did not have to learn about it from overhearing it as Kaito suggested,” She argued with a deliberately slow and level tone, almost as if she were explaining it to a group of children. Her eyes seemed to glimmer with an indescribable look as she made her move. “And so we once again find ourselves out of leads, left only with our existing deductions.”

“Out of leads? Is that a joke?” Kaede demanded, pointing at Celeste. “You covered up what you knew about Hifumi-”

“And have subsequently been forced to explain myself,” She curtly cut off, a hint of scolding entering her neutral voice. “Yes, I lied. I did so for the sake of convenience, and while that has clearly backfired, nothing else has changed. You have failed to disprove my original assertion. The evidence still points to the same conclusion.”

Kaede did her best to hide a flinch as the words struck her like a fist. It pained her to admit, but Celeste wasn’t entirely wrong. While she was certain almost beyond a doubt that Kirumi was innocent, her deductions didn’t do much to actually disprove the maid as a suspect. If anything, it had essentially just painted a clearer picture of how Kirumi supposedly went about the crime. Even after all their debating and mystery solving, she still lacked the one thing she needed to actually do anything about it. She pressed her nails into her palms tightly. “... That doesn’t-”

“That’s a bunch of bullcrap and you know it!” Kaito suddenly bellowed, his jacket blowing out behind him as he threw out an accusing fist. “If you were lying about that, what’s to say you haven’t been lying about everything else you’ve said?! Maybe the evidence only fits your story because there’s something you’re leaving out!”

The goth pressed her lips in a thin line, a ghost of a sneer threatening to cross her face. “If that was the case, Kaito, then why does it ring true for several people with no connection to me? Despite how desperately you wish it weren’t the case, those not blinded by their feelings see that my logic holds up.” Celeste declared with unwavering confidence. Despite his considerable height advantage over her, she still managed to look like she was looking down upon him, her borderline arrogant certainty in her deductions striking Kaede’s nerves like a hammer hitting a piano chord. The pompous edge to her words was as irritating as an expert maestro intentionally playing sour notes. The skill and talent was clearly there, so why were they so insistent on being _ wrong _?!

“... I’m not so certain that it does.”

In an instant, that look of conviction shattered, Celeste’s eyes widening in shock and what Kaede could have sworn was _ outrage _at being called out. “What did you just-?!” Ludenberg hissed in an almost completely different voice before stopping dead in her tracks with a blink. “... Ahem. Is there something you wish to say, Peko?”

The Ultimate Swordswoman didn’t pay the sudden outburst beyond a momentary quirk of her eyebrow. Instead, her focus was on slicing through the gambler’s words. “Your logic definitely made sense previously. However, after noticing the oddity of the dumbbells, I find it… inconsistent with what I would expect of Kirumi. Throughout this case, the killer made a series of errors that left incriminating evidence behind. Scratching the floors in Kaede’s lab, leaving the broken ramp behind, the haphazard disposal of the table cloth, the blood on the lift and in the gravel, and leaving the dumbbells in such disarray… doesn’t it seem rather sloppy for the Ultimate Maid to have left so many clues behind?”

“Hm… y’know, thinkin’ about it, that is pretty weird. Maids are supposed to be good at keeping stuff clean, but it’s like whatever psycho did this didn’t give a damn about leaving evidence behind…” Leon slowly agreed, a conflicted look on his face.

Sakura bowed her head, a small frown cracking her stoney features. “Or that they were ill-prepared, though even then, Kirumi’s talent surely would have let her dispose of at least some of those clues. For all of them to remain if she is the killer is unlikely, to say the least… I confess that I truly did believe she was the killer, but reflecting on things, I am no longer so sure.”

Celeste glared at them as if she were looking at the biggest fools in the world. “That is hardly proof of her innocence. It’s merely-”

“Coincidence?” Kaede finished challengingly. She couldn’t deny the rush of smug satisfaction she felt seeing Celeste’s eyes go wide at that right before she twisted the knife further. “Like you said, Celeste: coincidences add up.”

If looks could kill, Celeste would have viciously murdered Akamatsu in front of everyone. “I… I…!” She seethed, her voice strained and accent cracking. Ludenberg looked like she could explode at any second, her expression warping with malicious disbelief… until she suddenly closed her eyes, the aristocrat sucking in a deep breath. Like magic, by the time she opened her eyes once again, she was the picture of composure. “I… do not agree with you.”

“Unfortunately, that isn’t enough. I will make it clear that I am still not convinced of Kirumi’s innocence, but just as we couldn’t ignore the logic behind her guilt, it is pointless to deny the possibility that she is not the killer after all that.” Shinguji bluntly refuted, his eyes closed in thought. 

“Hmph… and so the tides of fate turn once more. It seems they have lost interest in dragging Kirumi to the depths of damnation… for now.” Gundham mused darkly, his thoughts unreadable behind the breeder’s almost perpetual scowl. Celeste didn’t manage a retort this time, merely schooling her face into an icy blankness. 

Kirumi gave her primary accuser an almost sympathetic look. “Miss Ludenberg, while your suspicion is understandable, I am _ not _the killer of this case. The only way we’ll be able to discover who is truly responsible is if you are willing to at least humor that idea.”

With every second that Celeste hesitated, Kaede grew more and more doubtful that she would actually be willing to concede that point. Be it certainty borne of arrogance or just plain stubbornness, Celestia had been unwavering in her doubt of Kirumi, and one thing that she had learned of the prickly woman over the past several days was her absolute commitment to getting what she wanted. A part of her was all too aware of their similarities in that regard, but whatever unflattering comparisons one could make between them were pushed aside in favor of waiting for Ludenberg’s response.

“... Fine then. Unless we fail to find any substantial evidence of your innocence, or until we do discover proof of someone else’s guilt, I can allow this,” She said at last, her gaze practically empty as she moved to meet Kaede’s eyes. “That said, as you seem so confident, I will leave this to you. If Kirumi isn’t the killer, then who is?”

Kaede thinned her lips. “I… don’t know for sure just yet…”

“If that’s the case, then perhaps I can offer you a starting point.” Korekiyo offered suddenly.

Kaede blinked at him, her gaze wary and uncertain. “A starting point…? What do you mean?”

The Ultimate Anthropologist waved a hand as if dispelling a fog. “Just a certain observation I’ve made during all this. It’s not to be taken as a definitive accusation, but something to use as a foundation for our debate going forward. Do you wish to hear it?”

_ “With how you’re phrasing it, I’m not sure I want to…” _She grimly thought to herself. Suppressing a frown, however, she nodded. “If it helps us get closer to the truth, then I’m willing to hear you out.”

“As you wish,” He said as he bowed his head, hiding his golden eyes behind the brim of his hat. “I can’t help but notice something: in all our debate about whether Kirumi or Celeste were more suspicious, we’ve allowed our third suspect to quietly slip into the background. A wise play on their part, but something that must be addressed all the same,” Kiyo questioned, practically purring the words out as his golden orbs settled on the focus of their remarks. “You’ve been silent for some time now, Tsumugi. Tell me, is there a reason for that?”

The reminder hit her like a jolt of lightning. In all the excitement, the group’s leader had hardly even noticed Tsumugi was there, let alone the fact that -now that Korekiyo pointed it out- the cosplayer hadn’t so much as said a word since Celeste’s slip. Kaede’s head snapped towards the now bug-eyed Shirogane as she physically flinched back in her stand. “H-huh?! M-me?” She sputtered out in shock before wildly shaking her head. “N-no! I just plainly haven’t had anything to add! That’s not suspicious!”

Kiyo tutted at her, waggling a finger.“For someone who isn’t a prime suspect, perhaps. However, you are one of three -or, at this point two- people left that could feasibly have committed this crime. Silence is no longer a luxury you can afford.”

The bluenette shakily pushed up her glasses. “B-but there’s no reason to suspect me!”

Mikan winced, turning her eyes to the ground as she wrung her hands. “But couldn’t you or Celeste have done any of the things she said Kirumi did…?

“No! Er, technically, I suppose, but…!” Tsumugi’s dismayed orbs flicked to Kaede pleadingly. “I-I’m telling the truth! I really didn’t do it! I just don’t know what to say to prove it!”

“Screaming like a child will not help you whether you’re guilty or not,” Celeste snapped coldly, only worsening the other girl’s clear fright. Sighing, she turned back to Kaede. “Well then, Kaede. If you are truly insistent on Kirumi’s innocence, there are two possible suspects left. Whoever you choose to pursue and how is up to you, but don’t forget the cost if you choose wrong.”

Kaede curled her fists with a shake of her head. “I’m not targeting either of you until I’m sure who did it,” Akamatsu firmly denied, leveling them both with the same sympathetic but unyielding gaze. After a moment, she let out a small breath, closing her eyes. “... But I know one of you has to be the one… so we don’t have any other choice. Both of you need to make your argument. Prove to all of us that you didn’t do this.”

Prove that one of them was a liar and a traitor. Prove that one of them was willing to kill them all if it meant they had a second shot of escape.

_ “Prove which one of you has to die.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how we were supposed to expose the killer this chapter? Well... as you can see, that didn't end up happening, but next chapter is absolutely the end of the trial, including the execution! Hopefully this entertains enough in the meantime!
> 
> Shoutouts to u/xReflexx17 for his awesome V3 trial assets! We literally could not have done this without his vectors! Those were a lot of fun to cobble together despite the challenges, and we hope you find them as cool as we did! Also, yeah, scrum debate! Our first time experimenting with something like that, so let us know how we did!
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading and bringing us to an amazing 263 kudos as of this chapter's posting, and as we approach the final stretch of the trial, we're super eager to hear your final guesses and theories!!! :D
> 
> EDIT: Shoutout to Stu_Pidface for providing the Monokuma gif!
> 
> -MrCynical


	17. Chapter One: The Bloodied Hands We're Dealt: Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial comes to its conclusion, and shocking truths come to light as a result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a long time coming, my friends, but it's finally here: The end of the first trial, and with it, Chapter One! Take your last bets, everyone!

For an agonizingly long moment, Kaede’s dire words hung in the air, neither of the remaining suspects daring to say a word. Unease swirled around the gathered blackened like a fog, invisible but smothering all the same. It crackled through the air like static electricity, holding them prisoner to the unspoken standoff between the three women.

“... _ We _have to prove we didn’t do it…?” Tsumugi finally whimpered, her quiet voice laced with trepidation as the bluenette’s skin turned pale enough that it almost rivaled Celeste’s ghostly makeup. Almost robotically, she slowly shook her head. “B-but what happened to being innocent until proven guilty?!”

“This is not a real trial, despite what Monokuma says. We do not have the benefit of the doubt,” Celeste said coldly, unphased despite the incredible pressure on her. “Also, that is not what _ we _are proving. I’m afraid we have no choice but to speak for ourselves from this point onwards. After all,” She paused, her red eyes flicking to Tsumugi with an ominous glint like a blade in the dark. “If both Kirumi and one of us is not the killer, then whoever fails to convince us otherwise must be our culprit, and I know for certain I am not. Your innocence is yours to prove.”

Tsumugi looked as if she'd been slapped. After several seconds of staring wide-eyed at the gambler, the words finally sank in as she started desperately looking to the others for help. “I- b-but how am _ I _supposed to prove that?! I plainly would have already if I knew how!”

Kaede held up her arms on instinct, subconsciously leaning back as if the Ultimate Cosplayer were a cornered animal about to pounce. “H-hey, calm down! Panicking doesn’t help anyone here! Just take a deep breath and hear me out,” She tried to soothe, managing a strained if hopefully reassuring smile when the frazzled Ultimate met her gaze. “Trust me, I know it’s scary, but you’re not alone here. I don’t like accusing you guys any more than you do. If you can come up with reasons why you’re not the blackened, I’ll do everything I can to help prove you innocent. Just be completely honest with us, and with all the evidence we have, I know we’ll find the truth! Remember that we’re here to find out who _ didn’t _ do it just as much as we are who _ did _. So… just believe in us and give it your all, okay?”

Tsumugi paused for a moment as she stared at Kaede uncertainly, a flash of something bitter and hurt clashing with a desperate, pleading hope in her eyes. “... Do you really mean that? You haven’t exactly been on my side so far…” Shirogane drearily noted.

Kaede winced at the barb. _ “Of course she doesn’t trust me… lying to her would have been bad enough, but accusing her of lying when we both knew it was the truth… we really need to have a talk after this,” _ She thought as she apologetically bowed her head to her plain friend. “I know… and I’m truly sorry for that. But I mean it when I say I’m on both your sides right now. Even if you can’t bring yourself to trust me, then trust in everyone else to do the right thing. We’re all in this together, so there’s no choice _ but _to trust you for as long as we can.”

Much to Kaede’s relief, the Ultimate Cosplayer seemed to be partially mollified by that, as her stricken expression gradually softened into a mere frown. “... So, as long as we try to prove we didn’t do it, you’ll help us?” She summarized warily right before a meaty _ thump _sounded off as the Ultimate Astronaut slammed his fists together.

“Exactly! We’re gonna believe in both of you until there isn’t a shred of doubt!” Kaito boisterously declared. Glancing at Kaede, he flashed a grin bright enough to light the night sky and offered a thumbs up to the pair of suspects. “You’re safe in the hands of Kaito Momota and his sidekicks!”

“Hmm. How naive of you,” Celeste lightly scolded, earning a glare from Momota. She didn’t react to his dark look in the slightest, but after a moment, she conceded the point. “... Still, I’m not so prideful as to refuse aid offered to me on a silver platter. I accept your offer.”

Kaede crossed her arms warningly, but otherwise chose to let the goth’s haughty reamark slide. Ludenberg wasn’t the only one with a peculiar reaction to their words of encouragement as Korekiyo tittered to himself, giving her a look that almost felt like he was smirking at her. “Keheheh, playing both prosecutor and defense attorney, Kaede? I’m curious to see how this goes,” He said in an almost amused tone that rubbed the once-Ultimate Pianist the wrong way. Shinguji shifted his gaze and offered a small tip of his cap to Shirogane. “I shan’t take up any more of your time. The floor is yours, Tsumugi.”

The geeky girl winced slightly, visibly uncertain about what to do and now under the watchful eyes of the courtroom. “O-oh… I’m first then, huh…? Well… if we’re looking for something that proves it wasn’t me, then…” She spoke slowly in a thinly veiled stall for time, idly rubbing at her cheek out of nervousness. She fell silent for a few moments before letting out a dramatic gasp, her eyes lighting up like Christmas trees. “Oh my gosh, wait a second! If the killer is definitely the person on Hifumi’s tape, then we can figure out who they are right now!”

_ That _certainly got the group’s attention. “W-what?! We can?!” Mikan cried out in shock.

“If you know how, then stop waitin’ around and spit it out already!” Mondo barked with an annoyed sneer, throwing a hand to the side.

Kirumi thinned her lips, but nodded. “I must agree. Whatever information you can provide us, Tsumugi, please do so post-haste.”

Even despite the Ultimate Biker’s gruff order, Tsumugi still had an almost delighted expression on her face as she explained herself. “It’s actually so obvious that I plainly don’t know how we didn’t think of it before. Whoever killed Hifumi was the one whose video he got, right? So, if we all check our videos, whoever’s missing must be the culprit!”

Kaede’s eyes became as wide as dinner plates. “That’s- woah, that’s an amazing idea! Everyone, check your pads and- huh?” She suddenly cut herself off as she pulled out her monopod and turned it on to find a cartoonish scribble of Monokuma dressed like a stereotypical professor waggling a claw at the viewer with a mocking grin. She tried tapping the screen to no avail beyond making the image bounce slightly in place. Her head shot up to the real one lazily leaning back in his throne, narrowing hatefully. “What is this, Monokuma? Why aren’t our pads working?”

“What, you didn’t think I’d let you solve the mystery that easily, did you?” Monokuma sarcastically drawled. “That would be so anticlimactic! No way could I let a trial end on such a boring letdown as that! Like I said earlier, a headmaster must prepare his students for the real world, and that means no cheat sheets! You guys are gonna have to solve this the old fashioned way!”

“Wh- oh, come ON, are you serious?!” Leon demanded incredulously, his skin only a few shades off from his flaming red hair.

“As a heart attack, Mister Kuwata! We take academic integrity very seriously here, you know!” The black and white beast cheerily replied, pretending not to notice the glares from the students below. He mimed checking a nonexistent watch and let out a whistle. “Oh, wow! You guys should probably skip the grumbling and get cracking on this case! We’re getting awfully close to Punishment Time~!”

Mondo growled as he ominously cracked his knuckles. “That’s it, you little bastard! I’m gonna-”

“Restrain yourself, Mondo,” Sakura commanded, the biker pausing under her firm gaze. The gargantuan woman shook her head. “Attacking Monokuma is a pointless endeavor, and even if you were spared, we do not have time to waste. We must focus on this case.”

Kirumi was quick to back the martial artist, giving an approving nod. “Agreed. Even though Monokuma is making this harder, I have an idea on how we can progress. While we may not be able to show our tapes to each other, that doesn’t mean we cannot discuss them at all. We can simply state whose video we received and begin narrowing it down from there.”

Teruteru’s lips curled into a cringe, the boy twirling the tip of his hair uneasily. “But if we’re just going by their word, couldn’t someone just lie about it if they wanted…?”

Chiaki tapped a finger against her chin. “The only one who’d get anything out of that would be the killer, and it would be pretty risky to say they had someone’s tape if someone else had it…” She pointed out, though her tone sounded more like she was thinking aloud than actually disagreeing with the chef. “... But, we could have them say some details about the tape they watched, and the person on it could confirm it for us.”

Celeste shot her a quizzical look. “Would that not violate the rule about confessing our crimes?”

Kaede furrowed her brow. _ “Oh, right… with everything going on, I almost forgot about that. But, wait…” _She thought back to the monochrome monster’s announcement, a part of her unable to believe it had only been a day prior.

***

** _Temporary Regulation: Until the first murder is committed, students cannot confess their original motives._ **

_ Kaede read the line again and again, her scowl deepening each time until she forced her gaze upward and her furious eyes bored into the black and white bear. “Seriously? You have to cheat just to stop us?” _

_ If she hadn’t hit a nerve before, she certainly had now. “I do not cheat! I might not mention every detail, but I follow my rules to the letter! Just because I make new rules to protect the game doesn’t mean I’m cheating!” _

***

“... Actually, I don’t think it does,” Kaede realized, holding up a finger as she explained. “The regulation only said we couldn’t confess our motives, not that we couldn’t talk about it at all, and it was only in effect until the first **murder ** happened, not the first **trial**. Even if that’s how he meant it, the rules make it clear, and you can’t go back on those, can you?” She asked pointedly, confidently staring down the bear.

Monokuma stayed quiet for a long moment before letting out a long, shuddering sigh. “It’s true. Them’s the rules… you guys are off the hook. Well, that hook, anyway. Go nuts.”

Kaede blinked. That… was unexpected. She knew he’d have no choice but to admit it, but… “... Huh? That’s it? You’re not going to argue at all?”

“I’m _ beary _honest. I said what I meant, and so that’s what I’m following. I’m bound by my rules as much as you are,” He confessed with a helpless shrug. His ever-lasting grin seemed to stretch even further as he added, “Besides, this could lead to some pretty interesting stuff, so I’m satisfied with this anyway.”

The words sent a cold dread down Kaede’s spine. If he’d bickered with her like he did about the doors, or tried to sidestep the issue as he normally did, that somehow would have been less concerning than the bear’s sudden and ominous nonchalance. The fact that he was allowing and even passively encouraging it made it feel distinctly unsettling… but, there wasn’t much that could be done about that suspicion. It was still the best idea they had, even if it was playing into that monster’s hands somehow. Chiaki must have felt similarly, as she silently stared at the now silent Monokuma for a few moments before speaking. “... Then I guess we can go ahead. If everyone’s okay with it, that is.”

“... It is unfortunate, but if it is needed to solve this case, I will do as you say.” Peko reluctantly agreed.

A gobsmacked look froze on Leon’s face for a good few seconds. ‘Wait, you.... Really?” He asked in genuine surprise, the gears all but visually spinning in his head. Somewhat anxiously, he rubbed at the back of his head with a small shrug to Chiaki. “... Okay, yeah. I guess it’s alright. We all just have to say who’s tape we got, right? That should be pretty easy-”

A dreadful whimpering howled out from the other side of the courtroom, interrupting the baseball player and bringing everyone’s attention to Mikan as she lightly shook and cried at her stand. “Oooooh… I-I’m so sorry!” She squealed out pitifully. The nurse rubbed at her eyes fruitlessly as she sobbed out. “Y-you have such a good idea, b-but I didn’t watch the video I had, so we won’t have an answer for sure! I could have a tape that proves someone innocent, a-and we wouldn’t know… I’m sorry! I-it’s all my fault!”

“Wh- seriously?!” Leon shouted out in disbelief as he scowled menacingly at Tsumiki. “Why not?! Doesn’t knowing what these guys did seem important?”

Kaede glared at him. “Hey, don’t shout at her! It’s not her fault! Not everyone was planning on watching theirs, you know!” She berated harshly. After a moment, some of her confidence subsided as an unfortunate realization struck her. “... Including me. It kind of slipped my mind until now, but I never saw whose tape I had.”

Leon let out a groan. “You too?! What kind of a dumbass-?!”

“I didn’t watch mine either,” Sakura rumbled out unflinchingly, catching the man by surprise. “I did not believe it was my place to learn of someone else’s mistakes without fully knowing my own, though it seems that decision has had unintended consequences. Does that answer your question, Leon?” She questioned with a hint of warning, her eyes sending a wordless warning to Kuwata. 

He flinched, taking a half-step away from Ogami before his eyes wandered back to Kaede’s steely glare and then to the quietly sobbing nurse. “I- h-hey, don’t cry like that! I was just-”

“Is ungentlemanly to make girls cry, Leon! Say sorry!” Gonta denounced, earning a growl from the increasingly aggravated athlete.

“But I didn’t even-”

“Enough! This inane bickering would vex even the most easily entertained beings of chaos!” Tanaka boomed. 

As bad as Kaede felt for the nurse and annoyed as she was at Leon for his big mouth (possibly only _ just _ resisting the urge to reach over and smack the back of his head. Really? _ She _was the dumbass between them?!), a part of her was grateful that Gundham of all people decided to intervene as she took the opportunity to get them back on track. “Gundham’s right, guys! We have to focus on what matters here. If we can’t do the plan we wanted, then maybe there’s something we can improvise. We only need to know who had Tsumugi, Kirumi, and Celeste’s tapes. So, if you know for sure that you have any one of those tapes, say something.”

Moments passed by with nary a whisper, the gathered Ultimates merely glancing at each other curiously as they waited for someone to come forward. Yet, as was increasingly obvious, no one would. “... Come on! Someone’s gotta have it, right?” Mondo called out in annoyance.

“If they do, then they are either unaware, or are intentionally keeping it from us. In either case, there is nothing we can do.” Celeste hummed with a small frown.

Owada grit his teeth. “So what, it’s a bust? Then what do we do now?”

Kaede sighed, crossing her arms. “If we can’t do this the easy way, then we’re just going to have to either push through one of these dead ends or find some other way to prove it. We should think about everything we don’t know about this case and go from there.”

Korekiyo idly examined a medal as he mused aloud. “The murder weapon is the obvious answer, though there is little to work with there. The same goes for the culprit’s odd choice to leave so much evidence behind.”

Gonta knitted his brow with a deeply uncertain expression. “Actually, Gonta been wondering about that. Gonta think it maybe have to do with something else about case. Gonta kind of ask this before, but… if culprit wanted to move body and work very hard doing that, then why kill Hifumi in Sakura’s lab at all? It make more sense to kill someone in place you want body, doesn’t it?”

Kaito stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “Yeah, now that you mention it, that _ is _pretty weird. What’s really screwing them over right now is the stuff they left behind from moving the body, so why not skip all that and do it in Kaede’s lab?”

“M-maybe we should talk about that and see if we can find anything out?” Mikan shyly suggested.

Kaede gave an agreeing nod. “I think that’s a good idea, Mikan,” She praised, allowing a tiny smile at how pleased the nurse looked at that. It faded as quickly as it appeared as she shifted back into the role of the leader. “Alright, everyone! Share whatever ideas you have! The more we can figure out about this case, the better!”

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

“If the killer **wanted** to put his body in Kaede’s lab,” Kaito began, planting a hand on his hip. “Then why not wait for Kaede to leave and then kill him there? Killing him early in Sakura’s lab just made them **leave more clues **behind.”

Peko shook her head. “The killer wouldn’t have had any reason to frame Kaede until after hearing her confrontation with Mondo, and Hifumi was **already dead** at that point.”

Chiaki nodded with an unclear expression. “That’s true… there must have been **some other reason **for doing it there.”

“Could they have summoned Mister Yamada to the room originally intending to frame _ Miss Ogami _ or _ Miss Pekoyama _, and then changed targets assuming Kaede and Mister Owada would be easier to incriminate?” Kirumi pondered.

Tanaka let out a humph. “Perhaps the culprit was not the fiend to choose that room…”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” Mondo asked curiously.

“It is clear the immense one held a **bloodlust for the killer** , and sought to inflict his vengeance upon them as soon as possible,” Gundham reminded before striking an accusatory pose. “Hifumi could have _ lured the culprit _into the lab, only to underestimate their power and meet his end at their hands!”

“If Hifumi were the instigator, whoever killed him likely wouldn’t have had much time to think out their actions,” Peko reasoned as her lips thinned. “So then, you are arguing the trail of evidence exists because the murder **wasn’t planned**?”

Chiaki considered the idea for a moment. “That would explain why the killer was so sloppy…”

The Ultimate Entomologist curled a finger as he spoke in a slightly hopeful tone. “So culprit **not mean to hurt Hifumi**?”

Leon scowled, muttering something under his breath.

“If that was the case, how exactly did Hifumi get the killer to go there, and what was his plan?” Celeste questioned with her ever-perfect poker face hiding whatever thoughts she had.

“Th-they could have been told to go there, o-or else Hifumi would show everyone their tape. If it was really that bad, they **wouldn’t have really had a choice**, would they…?” Mikan said almost lamentfully.

The Overlord of Ice smirked. “A choice between battle and damnation is hardly a difficult one for those proud enough to take such a path to begin with,” The goth dismissed before taking on a much more commanding tone. “Listen well, for I shall now explain the victim’s plan! Upon completing the ritual to ensure his mark’s arrival, he watched from the shadows until they arrived. Once there, he ** _trapped his prey _ **between himself, the wall, and the locked door. It is then that the killer struck like a cornered serpent of the damned, ending him in an instant!”

A low hum sounded from Kaede’s left as Teruteru rubbed at his chin. “That almost sounds like a bit of _ fun, freaky foreplay _… w-well, until the murder part, anyway…”

** _CONSENT!_ **

“Yeah, that’s right!” Kaede suddenly declared, beaming as the pieces clicked into place.

Teruteru looked almost scandalized, staring at her with mile-wide eyes. “H-huh?! I was playing around!” He quickly clarified, but after a brief pause, a smirk started playing at the corner of his lips. “Unless you’re saying-”

“Wh- _ ew _! God, no!” Kaede retched, glaring at the chuckling chef even as he apologetically raised his hands in surrender. “I was talking about Gundham’s theory! There’s something that proves it!” She hissed as she threw a hand out towards the Ultimate Breeder.

Gundham blinked in clear surprise before letting out a boisterous laugh. “HA! Of course there is, sinner! I, Gundham Tanaka, arbiter and conqueror of worlds, only craft arguments as impervious to attack as myself! To imply anything less would be a lethal mistake!”

Kaede stared blankly at him for a few seconds, an involuntary half smile forming despite herself. “... Do you even know what proof I’m talking about?”

“Of course! Such a foolish question! You are referring to…” He started only to fall uncharacteristically silent, looking just about anywhere but her eyes. A beat passed. Wordlessly, he pulled his scarf up over his nose, a hint of red peeking out from the top.

Stifling a sigh, Kaede elaborated. “The pool of blood we found was way in the back of the lab in the archery range. The only explanation for that was if either Hifumi or the killer were being cornered when he died, and there was still a bit of space between where he was stabbed and the wall. I don’t think the culprit would have let Hifumi catch them by surprise if they were the one that told Hifumi to meet them there,” She explained as she held up a finger. “Considering all that, the only thing that makes sense is if Hifumi was trying to corner his killer when he died!”

A clamber of noise erupted at the declaration, the uproarious reactions of her peers already seeming like a staple of the court. It wasn’t as long or notable as most of their other outbursts, though whether it was because this particular revelation wasn’t as shocking or they were simply growing fatigued as the trial dragged on was unclear. Either way, her words clearly had an effect on them, as Kirumi bowed her head with a quiet sigh. “I see… so Mister Yamada died attempting to apprehend whoever it was he considered such a threat to us all…” She concluded somberly, a much quieter and more melancholy murmur of agreement following her words.

“Or, perhaps, retire them with a more permanent solution…” Korekiyo morbidly suggested, earning harsh looks from a handful of his peers.

“Assuming such things about the dead is… ugly, Korekiyo. Unless it becomes relevant to the case, please keep such thoughts to yourself.” Sakura scolded.

Shinguji lowered his cap. “Ah, my apologies. I sometimes forget such observations are not always welcome. Her phrasing merely reminded me of something else… but I will respect your wish.”

Kaede thinned her lips, looking away in shame. She didn’t know for certain if he was talking about her specifically, but the connection wasn’t a hard one to draw. Akamatsu didn’t say anything in response, even as she silently prayed the anthropologist was wrong. The idea of anyone else repeating her mistake made her sick to her stomach. 

Regardless of her discomfort, however, the trial waited for no one. Leon crossed his arms, his brow furrowed and lips pulled into a suspecting frown. “Okay, so Hifumi set things up to meet with someone, but whatever he was planning went south and he died. That all makes sense, but if it did happen like that, then just what the hell was it on that tape that someone would be willing to kill the guy over?”

“Is that not the riddle we have sought to solve from this trial’s inception?” Gundham pointed out with a flat look, earning a glare from the redhead.

“Actually, I believe Mister Kuwata’s question is worth examining,” Kirumi defended, cupping her chin in thought. “If the killer was protecting some sort of secret, then we may be able to use that fact to identify them. While it’s unlikely we know the exact thing they were hiding, perhaps we could compile enough context from our respective games to identify what may have been in his motive video.”

Akamatsu stiffened slightly. “Some sort of secret…?” She whispered to herself as a grave thought crossed her mind. _ “A secret worth killing over… like being the _ ** _mastermind_ ** _ …?” _

Shuichi said he was wrong. He’d sworn that he’d made a mistake, that all of her sins were his fault for leading her in the wrong direction. After all, why wouldn’t they have intervened if their game was going to end early with Shuichi’s false conviction? Rantaro died because she was chasing a ghost… but did he really mean that? Were his deductions truly incorrect, or did he just say that as one last ditch effort to absolve her of her crime? There would be no reason for the door behind the bookcase if no one was using it. Come to think of it, if her death wasn’t enough to end the game, someone’s must have… someone like the one behind it all. If they were twisted enough to start a game like that in the first place, they’d probably be willing to kill, right? And if the mastermind actually ** _did _ **exist and was with them now, then they’d be willing to do just about anything to hide their existence after nearly getting caught the first time, wouldn’t they...?

Kaede clenched her fists tight enough to hurt. _ “Stop it. The mastermind doesn’t exist. You’ve killed enough people already with stupid thoughts like that, so just _ ** _shut up_ ** _ . Shuichi said he was wrong, and he’d know better than anyone. It has to be something else.” _

“Something the killer was hiding…? Well, that’s probably a good thing, right? I’m way too plain to have anything to hide!” Tsumugi declared with absolute conviction.

Leon rolled her eyes at her with a scoff. “Saying stuff like that makes it sound like you totally have something to hide!”

Before the two could start bickering, however, a low voice intervened. “Something the killer was hiding… I might have an idea what that was,” Sakura announced, her silver irises narrowed in suspicion. “Though I remember little of my killing game after Mondo’s demise, one thing that sticks out to me is that Hifumi had grown rather attached to Alter Ego in the days before his murder. Mondo, you said he killed Kiyotaka for reasons involving the computer he was stored on, yes?”

The Ultimate Biker grit his teeth, but nodded. “Yeah. ‘Parently the piece ‘a shit thought Taka stole the thing from ‘em for some reason and fuckin’ _ murdered _ him for it…” He growled out, sending a hateful glare in the direction of Yamada’s portrait. With a huff, he warily glanced back at Sakura. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Hifumi did not have very many people he cared about in our game. In truth, perhaps aside from Makoto, Alter Ego may have been the only friend he had. Clearly, the idea of anything happening to it was enough enrage him to the point of murder…” Ogami noted as her jaw tensed. “That, however, has its own question: why would someone as dedicated to order and virtue as Taka decide to steal something so precious to Hifumi?”

“He wouldn’t**!**” Owada angrily denied, fire raging dangerously in his eyes. “There’s no fuckin’ way he’d ever pull some shit like that!”

Sakura showed no reaction to his burst of rage aside from bowing her head. “Indeed. It does sound out of character for him, enough so that I cannot think of why Hifumi would believe something like that…” She said, her tone turning grave and knowing as she turned directly to Celeste. “Unless someone else he trusted told him that.”

A pin drop would sound thunderous in the deathly silence that followed those words. Whether out of shock or anxiousness, no one dared say a word, breathlessly watching the soundless standoff between the two Ultimates. Even Kaede found herself speechless as the implications of Sakura’s statement began to fully sink in. She desperately hoped that what she was picturing was completely wrong and just the result of her own despicable paranoia rather than the horrific truth the statement suggested. The idea that anyone could be so cruel as to-

“... You… evil… **_mother_** **_FUCKER!_**” Owada roared in unbridled fury, his features twisted into a monstrous snarl as he howled at the gambler. Kaede stepped back without even thinking about it, the sight of the enraged man sending a jolt of terror down her spine. There was no doubt he’d come to the same conclusion she had as his body visibly trembled with anger, the deathly white skin of his knuckles as he clenched them against the podium quite possibly being the only thing keeping him from charging towards Ludenberg and strangling her right then and there. He looked nearly as frenzied as he had the night prior as pure unfettered hatred radiated off of him like heat rising from scalding metal. “**You set Taka up to** **_fuckin’ DIE?! I’M GONNA-_**”

Peko’s hand shot to the sheath of her blade. “Calm down. **Now**.”

The others weren’t far behind her, Sakura and Kirumi both shifting to be able to quickly leave their podiums and intercept the man if need be. Gonta tensed and released his mighty fists in preparation, a reluctant if ultimately determined and warning glare hardening his often playful features. Kaito and Gundham hadn’t reacted quite as dramatically, but both men were visibly alert, Tanaka sending an almost challenging glower at Mondo while the Ultimate Astronaut’s gaze carried an imploring firmness not unlike a scolding father.

Mondo spun to bark something at Pekoyama, but just as he opened his mouth to argue, he caught sight of the frightened blonde. The two could do nothing but stare at each other for a long moment, both frozen in place by a sickening sense of deja vu. At last, Kaede finally found the strength to shake her head, gazing pleadingly at him. “Don’t, Mondo. _ Please _. She’s not worth it.”

Mondo didn’t say a word. The moments dragged by in silence, the tension palpable in the air until a low, thundering grow rumbled out from Owada. “... GrrrrrR**RR** ** _RAH!_ ** ” He howled out, swirling back to his own podium before slamming a fist into it again and again. His scream continued, growing more and more raw with each punch he threw. After the sixth one, he finally stopped beating the stand, leaning against it slightly to support himself as he took deep, shuddering breaths. She could see the blood slowly trickling down his hand to the floor from his split knuckles, but he gave no indication of feeling the pain even as he finally calmed himself enough to speak. “... You better hope you’re the killer,” He spat out, raising his head just enough to give Celeste a deathly look. “‘Cause chick or not, if you ** _ever _ ** get near me again, I’ll make you fucking ** _wish _ **Monokuma executed you first. You hear me?!”

“Quite,” Celeste replied dully. Despite the rather credible death threat, she somehow looked like the very definition of calm. If anything, she looked almost bored, her voice completely monotone and face blank with her hands politely folded in front of her. The absolute apathy she showed the biker was unbelievable… because it was. Despite how perfectly composed she was, that only made the tiny, almost invisible bead of sweat slipping past her makeup and her subtle step backwards seem all the more apparent to Kaede. She wasn’t sure if anyone else could notice, or particularly cared to with everything else happening, but she could tell the legendary Ultimate Gambler was genuinely _ afraid _. Those tells, as minor as they were, only lasted for a second at most before Celeste must have realized her small display of weakness and quickly re-upped her facade, burying all traces of anything other than absolute unspoken confidence. Almost as if pretending Mondo weren’t there, she shifted her gaze to Sakura and began speaking. “As for your accusation, Sakura, I will not insult either of our intellects by pretending not to know what you mean. You are arguing I stole Alter Ego and blamed Kiyotaka in order to orchestrate Hifumi into murder, and he learned of that from his motive video, yes?”

Still keeping herself prepared for action, Ogami glanced towards Ludenberg. “Yes. With what I remember of our game and what we know of this case, that seems like the most likely answer.”

Celeste hummed. “I see. I cannot deny that it would certainly be a sound reason for Hifumi to pursue me were that the case. However, this is largely conjecture. You admitted that you do not recall much of our killing game, and as Kaede has so adamantly pointed out so far, simply because something seems plausible does not mean it is the case.”

Peko narrowed her eyes doubtfully. “It’s difficult to imagine any more compelling reason for revenge than being tricked into committing murder and being executed for it.”

Korekiyo tisked. “Though you certainly have a point, Peko, there are other possibilities for the motive. Let us not become too presumptuous yet again.”

“You speak as if you already know what these possibilities are, Observer. Do not waste our time with pointless delays.” Gundham commanded, eyeing the anthropologist scrutinizingly.

Shinguji turned to the Ultimate Maid, holding out a hand demonstratively. “While I apologize for dredging up the past, it would be foolhardy of us to discuss Celeste’s possible trickery while ignoring your ability to manipulate others, Kirumi. Throughout your trial, you played to our hopes and regrets, including our promise to Kaede, for the sake of throwing us off your trail. Even in the end, you nearly incited us into open rebellion against Monokuma for the sake of covering your own escape. That sort of manipulation could very well have been what Hifumi spoke of in his final words.”

The words were like a slap to Kaede. The idea that Kirumi had tried twisting her dying wish into a shield, and tried sacrificing their friends even _after _losing the trial… if Tojo hadn’t made it clear just how much she loathed what she’d done, the heartache might have become too much for the leader to bear. It must have shown on her face as Kirumi visibly flinched, her emerald eye widening in shock and regret before she slowly closed it with a silent sigh. “I cannot deny the reality of my actions, Mister Shinguji, but I assure you, no one could harbor greater resentment for my crimes than myself. If he wished to expose what I did, I would have no right or reason to intervene. The fact that I am admitting what I did proves my statement.”

“It is unlikely Hifumi would have known that at the time if he was indeed confronting you,” Kiyo rebuked. Instead of continuing the pressure, however, he unexpectedly changed target. “But, there is logic in what you say. Ultimately, there’s little that proves that possibility one way or the other. I merely felt it important to keep us informed of all relevant details.”

“Don’t bring crap like that up and then just drop it when someone calls you out, you coward,” Kaito spat with a dark glare, whatever strained camaraderie they may have had during the previous game clearly long since shattered. Letting out a huff, he shook his head. “Whatever. Are you done, or do you have something else to say?”

Kiyo shook his head. “I have largely said my piece, though I’m sure you’ve also noticed the potential similarities to **Tsumugi’s case**.”

Kaede’s head perked up in intrigue. That was the second time now someone brought up vague details about Shirogane’s killing during the trial, and she was just as lost on it now as she was the first time. Part of her didn’t want to know; it was difficult enough trying to wrap her head around the fact that Gonta had killed Miu or that both Tenko and Angie fell to Korekiyo. At the same time, however, if it was important to the case… “Similarities? What exactly do you mean by-”

“This is nothing like **last time**!” Tsumugi cried out, shoving a finger towards Korekiyo. To the ex-pianist’s shock, she could see tears beginning to well in the cosplayer’s incensed eyes.

“A close friend of yours is **killed after attacking you** for unknown reasons, with their **body left in another’s talent lab** to try and frame its owner…” Shinguji listed off calmly, unmoved by the bluenette’s decree. “You cannot deny that it certainly rhymes with your killing last time, at the very least.”

Kaede’s brow furrowed. It was... difficult to picture the circumstances of how Tsumugi of all people would have done that and to whom, yet Shirogane’s refusal and Korekiyo’s unflinching confidence made it clear it must have happened. The details were rather vague, but the general outline matched up… a little too much, in fact, as Tsumugi pointed out. “But I didn’t do it! Why would I make the **same mistake twice**?! It plainly doesn’t make sense! Why are you doing this, Kiyo?! Did I do something to you?!”

Korekiyo shook his head. “No, of course not. As I said before, this is merely to cover all possible bases, Tsumugi. Unless it turns out you are indeed the killer, you have nothing to fear from these remarks.”

Kaede decided to intervene before he and the flustered cosplayer could argue any further. “That’s enough, Kiyo. You’ve made your point. All three of them have a potential motive. So, let’s stop fighting about it and focus on ruling out who we can, alright?” She phrased it as a question, though her tone made it clear it was an instruction. 

The anthropologist narrowed his eyes a touch, but lowered his cap concedingly. “As you wish. If anyone has a suggestion of how to go about that, I’m sure we’d all be quite eager to hear.”

A brief quiet succeeded, each person seemingly waiting for the next to be the one to step forward. Shockingly, it was ultimately Mikan that stepped forward, the Ultimate Nurse shyly raising a slightly shaking hand. “Um… I’m s-still a little confused about the tablecloth. If it’s alright with everyone else, then I think we should talk about it…” She quietly suggested.

“This again?” Celeste sighed, thinning her lips in slight annoyance. “Very well. I will explain why we dismissed this line of thought in the first place. Listen closely. I do not like having to repeat myself…” Ludenberg instructed haughtily, earning a glower from Kaede.

_ “Even after all this, she’s still convinced it’s a waste of time… or wants us to _ ** _think _ ** _ it is. We’ve been able to get past dead ends before. We just have to do it again...” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Celeste addressed the court with a bland expression. “As we established before, none of you found **any evidence **of where the tablecloth could have come from. Am I correct?”

Teruteru winced, fiddling with his comb. “W-well, not exactly…”

“The **cafe** , **dining hall** , and **ballroom ** all seemed to have all their tablecloths,” Chiaki conceded a touch hesitantly. “Is it possible the killer got it from _ somewhere else _, like the Monomono Machine?”

“Somewhere else…?” Kirumi muttered under her breath, unheard amongst the chorus to all but Kaede.

Ludenberg flicked at her hair. “Unlikely. The killer _ relying on pure luck _ to get the necessary supplies for their crime is beyond doubtful,” The gambler dismissed disinterestedly. “If there are **no other places** they could have gotten it, then we-”

“Wait,” Kirumi suddenly spoke up. “I apologize for interrupting, but a possibility occurred to me. Kaede, what shape and color was the tablecloth?”

Akamatsu quirked an eyebrow slightly but thought back to what she found. “It was pretty stained, but it looked like it was plain white. And… sorry, I didn’t pay attention to the shape… but it seemed pretty long, if that helps.”

Despite her vague answer, Tojo seemed to gleam what she was looking for as her eyes lit up with realization. “I see… in that case, I suspect I know where the killer obtained that tablecloth. Kaede’s description **perfectly matches** something I’ve seen in my lab.”

Leon crossed his arms, giving her a dubious look. “Er, I get you’re probably not the killer, but you know you’re supposed to be finding evidence that _ doesn’t make you look guilty, right _?” 

The maid gave him a flat look. “Were I the only one with access to my lab, that would certainly be a foolish thing to admit. However, as we’ve established, my lab has been **unlocked since our first day** here.” Kirumi firmly reminded as she lifted a finger. 

“It’s true. Didn’t have any problems gettin’ in there last night…” Mondo admitted, glancing away and rubbing his neck awkwardly.

Peko fixed her with a questioning look. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

The Ultimate Maid bowed her head slightly. “As much as it shames me to say, I am **not very familiar ** with my lab. In truth, I’ve nearly neglected it,” She confessed, her seeming lapse in duty no doubt bugging the ever-dedicated servant. “I did not take proper stock of its contents and forgot until Chiaki mentioned the possibility. While I had a _ strange feeling _ every time the tablecloth came up, I could not identify why. However, considering the lack of other possible solutions, we can assume that is where the culprit **obtained the tablecloth**.”

Chiaki looked to be mulling over the information as she distractedly asked, “... Do you know for sure if anyone else has been to your lab?”

“Aside from myself and Kaede, no,” Tojo admitted with a small frown. “However, I know for certain that both Miss Shirogane and Miss Ludenberg have **ties to this room** as well.”

Tsumugi’s greyish blue eyes went wide with panic. “Wha…? Me? But I plainly don’t know what you’re talking about…!” The cosplayer denied frightfully.

Gundham rolled his eyes. “Is that deception actually meant to fool us, or has fear clouded your mind that easily? Both you and the Ebon Witch accompanied me when we first woke upon this vessel inside Kirumi’s lab. In fact, you were the **first among us** to step forth from our iron prisons.”

“That is your defense, Kirumi? I must say, I’m underwhelmed. Waking up in your lab hardly means we had the time to fully explore it. It is hardly proof that we are more suspicious than you, at any rate,” Celeste dismissed with a light scoff. “Especially considering that, while I cannot speak for Tsumugi, I have ** _not had any reason_ ** to return to your lab since then.”

“And **neither did I**!” Tsumugi gracelessly called out half a second later only to be promptly ignored.

** _BREAK!_ **

Kaede’s head shot up in an instant. _ “Hang on a second… why doesn’t that sound right…? Wait!” _She abruptly realized as a certain prior conversation rushed back to her. The ex-pianist felt her lips curl in distaste, eyes narrowing judgmentally. Whatever Celeste’s reasoning was this time, Kaede was sick of her lies. “... Celeste, we both know that isn’t true. I know for a fact that you had to go back to Kirumi’s lab at least once since we got our memories back!”

The gambler shot her an unimpressed look, scoffing. “Oh, do we? Because I’m quite certain that you’re mistaken. Can you explain why exactly I would have gone back? If you’re going to accuse me of lying, you’d better at least have some logic to back yourself up.”

“Actually, I do,” She replied with absolute conviction. For a split second, she thought she saw a hint of surprise on Celeste’s face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. That wouldn’t deter her from revealing the truth. “You definitely went there, because you stole almost every piece of furniture inside of it to put in your room! I saw it myself!”

Celeste blinked… and then, to Kaede’s surprise, giggled. “Ahah, ah, pardon me, but you make me laugh. If I’m understanding you correctly, you say I not only stole furniture out of Kirumi’s lab, but then somehow brought it downstairs, and you just happened to be the one to see this? Surely you can understand how ridiculous that sounds.”

“Yeah, it does sound pretty silly when you put it that way… because you’re leaving out that you had an accomplice. Didn’t she, Gonta?” Kaede shot back with a small, knowing smile of her own.

The Ultimate Entomologist cringed guiltily, hanging his head in shame. “Gonta still very sorry about that. Gonta thought he being helpful. Not realize he steal from Kirumi when Celeste ask- oh! Wait! That right!” He suddenly gasped as he caught onto what the blonde was implying. “Celeste ask Gonta to come with her to lab and move furniture down to room for her!”

“Is that so… then it seems you _ did _ have a reason to go back…” Peko noted, a subtle suspicion giving a sharpness to her tone as she glared at Ludenberg.

An almost pained noise escaped Celeste, a short and startled sound that was curtly cut off before it could betray her any more than it already had. “Eh… yes, I suppose I did go there once. But, it was not particularly memorable or long, so it slipped my mind,” She defended slightly awkwardly, the boldness of that lie apparent even to the girl telling it. Something shimmered in her eyes as she calmly folded her hands, confidence returning to her voice and body language. “Besides, as he said, Gonta was with me at the time. He would be aware if I were doing anything untoward. Did you see me doing anything suspicious, Gonta?” Celeste asked almost innocently. If Kaede didn’t know any better, she might just have believed Celeste meant it.

Gonta gently crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Gonta not think so… Celeste just tell Gonta which chairs and tables she want. Gonta not remember her looking in strange places or anything like that.”

Celeste smiled brightly at the broad-shouldered man. “Thank you for telling the truth, Gonta,” She said sweetly as she steepled fingers and rested her chin on them. “So you see, while I was admittedly mistaken about going back to Kirumi’s lab, it wasn’t for some nefarious reason as she implies. I merely wished to change the accommodations in my room; nothing more.”

“But that still means you were in my lab on at least two occasions, and quite possibly more that you aren’t sharing with us.” Tojo accused outright, earning a dark glare from the gambler.

“Even so, that is not evidence. Those are the only times I’ve been to your lab, and as Gonta said already, he was watching me like a hawk while we were there. That’s hardly enough of an opportunity to study the room for anything useful, let alone for something as trivial as tablecloths,” Ludenberg scoffed back bitterly. “Honestly, Kirumi, this pedantic nonsense is not helping you.”

Tsumugi held up a finger with a slight grimace. “Even if you didn’t go back before the murder, couldn’t you have just guessed there’d be some there? It plainly makes sense that the Ultimate Maid’s lab would have stuff like that, right?”

“Well, if it was so _ plain _to deduce that, surely the killer could have guessed that regardless of how much time they spent in that room!” Came the goth’s biting response. Tsumugi’s eyes went wide, the girl curling into herself fearfully like a turtle faced with a lion.

Despite not even being the targets of her wrath, Mikan and Teruteru also shrunk back, the latter grimacing deeply. “Sh-she looks fit to be tied, and not in the fun way, either!”

Whether she heard that particular comment or not, Celeste did seem to realize how much of a scene she was making, the supposed aristocrat pausing and collecting herself with a polite cough. “Ahem. I apologize for that crass behavior. I am simply growing frustrated with these paper thin accusations leading us in circles. Even if we do assume that the killer took the tablecloth from Kirumi’s lab, it does little to actually suggest which one of us is the culprit.”

Leon scratched at his head, looking conflicted. “I guess that’s true. Tsumugi was right; it’s not all that hard to guess something like that when you think about it. We’re still at square one.”

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Mondo snarled out. “All this talk and solving shit, and we still haven’t ruled anyone else out? Come on! This is a bunch of bullshit!”

“Agreed. Solving the exact details of the case means little if we’re stuck on the most important aspect after everything.” Peko announced sternly. 

Chiaki frowned, folding her arms. “We’ve solved almost everything about the case. At this point, the only thing we don’t know is the murder weapon… but, we might not even have to figure out what that is.”

“Huh? What do you mean we don’t need it?” Kaito questioned with a puzzled expression. “Isn’t that one of the most important things to figure out?”

Nanami shook her head. “Not necessarily. In our game, we didn’t always figure out exactly what killed the person. Just putting the other clues together was enough to solve the murder.”

“Hmm… Chiaki speaks truthfully. We never did find what slew Hiyoko, yet we discovered her killer all the same.” Gundham agreed. A choked sob hiccuped from Mikan as she burst into a fit of tears, but there was no opportunity to offer any comfort as the trial marched on.

“So then… if we cannot solve what the murder weapon was, and everything else has been resolved, how do you suggest we decide on a culprit?” Sakura asked the Ultimate Gamer skeptically.

Chiaki folded her hands. “We know for sure that the culprit had to have been in your lab with Hifumi’s body by the time Kaede and Mondo fought. That means someone’s alibi can’t be true. So… we should listen to their stories one last time and see if we can prove them one way or the other.”

Celeste looked at her flatly. “You were the one to suggest that discussing alibis was pointless, were you not?” She pointed out in a bored monotone. “I fail to see how-”

“I’ll do it!” Tsumugi abruptly shouted out, the cosplayer looking almost frantic despite the hopeful glint in her eye. “If it means I can finally prove I’m not the culprit, I’ll go over it all you want!”

Kirumi nodded with a determined expression. “I am willing to testify as well. I will do everything in my power to prove myself to you all.”

Celeste let out sigh, shaking her head slightly in annoyance. “It seems we are going down this road regardless. Very well. Allow me to convince you…”

“I’m plainly not the culprit!”

**“I am not the culprit.”**

_ “... That I cannot be the culprit.” _

Kaede thinned her lips, bracing herself. _ “Geez, they’re all talking over each other… but I can’t lose focus! This could be what we need to prove who did it. Just stay calm and keep an ear out for anything that sounds wrong, like last time. We’re too close to the end to let up now!” _

** _MASS PANIC DEBATE_ **

**“As stated previously, following dinner service, Mister Hanamura and I were together until ** nine PM **.” Kirumi began, motioning to the chef.**

Tsumugi held up a finger, an uneasy look on her face as she spoke. “Last night, I was in the dining hall for a little bit, but I felt pretty nervous, so I went to bed early. I **never even went** to the second floor!” Tsumugi desperately exclaimed.

_ Celeste flicked at her hair, her tone brisk and monotonous. “As I have said several times before, I left the dining room at about _ eight-twenty PM _ . After being disappointed by the gift shop, I returned to the dining hall, met with Kirumi, and went to bed.” _

**Teruteru nodded confirmingly. “It’s the truth; I went off to have a very pleasant dream** **around then.”**

“Is there anyone who can confirm that?” Peko asked bluntly.

_ “We know that much for certain, but what proves you did not leave your room later?” Sakura questioned with a hint of suspicion. _

**“Th-then you and Celeste saw each other about, um, ** fifteen minutes later , **r-right?” Mikan added somewhat uncertainly. **

“Kirumi said **she saw Tsumugi leave** earlier, didn’t she?” Kaito reminded, putting a hand on his hip. “But what were you doing all night anyway?”

_ Ludenberg folded her hands calmly. “Simple. Tsumugi and Teruteru both testified that they checked their maps at different times, and I was _ in my room _ at both points. Therefore, I am innocent.” _

**“Correct. I retired to my cabin at approximately ** ten PM , **and fell asleep half an hour later.” Tojo explained.**

“**Reading manga in my room**,” Shirogane replied a touch too fast. “I thought reading something lighthearted might make me feel better…”

_ “You expect us to believe that bullshit?!” Mondo growled threateningly, earning nothing more than an annoyed glance from the girl in response. _

**Leon crossed his arms with a quirked eyebrow. “Wait, at ten? What were you doing between seeing Celeste and then?”**

Gonta smiled brightly. “That true, reading books with pictures make Gonta very happy, so it probably make Tsumugi happy too. Oh! Gonta can recommend book for you!”

_ Korekiyo narrowed his eyes, holding up a finger warningly. “I must agree. It is entirely possible you simply _ left your monopod in your room _ while you went about the murder.” _

**The Ultimate Maid bowed her head. “I suppose most people would call it busy work; sweeping, dusting, and so on,” She let out a small sigh. “While I’m aware that is an unsatisfactory answer, I’m being truthful when I say I simply wanted to thoroughly clean the area. I find it ** _ difficult to work in _ **an environment if I have not personally cleaned it first.”**

Shirogane gained an awkward smile. “Um, maybe after the trial, Gonta,” She placated before shaking her head. “A-anyways, I was reading for hours until I heard that **loud bang **outside like I said. That’s when I checked my monopad and saw Mondo outside and Kaede upstairs. I… was a little scared, honestly, so I just went to bed.”

_ “That is ridiculous. Why would I leave myself open to an ambush like that?” The gambler refused. _

**“First times are always ** _ deep and hands-on _ **…” Teruteru murmured to himself with a smirk.**

Pekoyama thinned her lips. “Do you know if anyone else heard that noise?”

_ Shinguji didn’t relent, however. “You could have realized how the tracking worked ahead of time, and subsequently decided the benefits outweighed the risks.” _

**Kirumi clasped her hands with a look of determination. “I am also aware that my alibi doesn’t absolve me of suspicion. Given that I place such importance on cleanliness in daily life, however, there is ** no reason ** that I would have allowed such a mess were I the culprit. Therefore, I logically cannot be the killer!”**

Tsumugi winced. “Uh… I don’t think so… but there’s ** _probably someone else _ **that heard it!”

_ Celeste out a hum. “That would be a large gamble even for me. Without proof, your suggestion is a meaningless ‘what if’.” _

**Gundham crossed his arms, a slight scowl on his face. “Such logic only works if we ignore the possibility that decision was a ** _ ruse to mask your actions _ **. It could well still be you.”**

The Ultimate Swordswoman crossed her arms with a frown. “If we don’t have a definitive witness, then we _ can’t assume that’s the truth _.”

_ “How are we supposed to prove when you figured something out?!” Kaito suddenly butted in. _

**“That would be a pretty big chance to take, though, wouldn’t it?” Chiaki questioned with a deeply furrowed brow, her eyes glinting with something unrecognizable.**

“I swear I’m telling the truth!” Tsumugi all but begged.

_ “How am I to prove the inverse?” Celeste shot back with an almost blank expression. “This line of thought is _ impossible to prove _ definitively. We will get nowhere.” _

** _CONSENT!_ **

Kaede’s eyes shot open, inspiration bursting through her as the pieces finally clicked into place. “WAIT! I think I’ve figured something out!” She shouted as loud as she could to be heard over the uproar in the court. The various arguments fizzled out as their collective focus shifted to her. She turned towards the Ultimate Cosplayer, her eyes filled with both worry and hope as they met Kaede’s own confident gaze. “Tsumugi, you said it was **ten after eleven** when you heard that noise outside your door, right?”

The bluenette slowly nodded, as if moving too fast would make the blonde pounce on her. “Y-yeah…”

This was the moment that could decide the trial. Taking a moment to prepare herself for whatever followed, Akamatsu crossed her arms and staked her claim. “If that’s true, then there’s **one person **that definitely should have heard something.”

“One person…? Who are you talking about, Kaede?” Kaito asked in genuine confusion.

“I’m talking about you.”

The Ultimate Astronaut blinked uncomprehendingly. “Huh? Me?”

“Think about it. You said you were waiting in your room for me to show up for training until **eleven-fifteen**, and your room’s only a door or two away from Tsumugi’s. At the time Tsumugi says she heard that noise, there’s only a handful of people we know were awake: Me, Mondo, Tsumugi, the culprit, and you. If Mondo, the killer and I were on the second deck, then the only other person that was definitely awake and close enough to hear a noise like that would be you,” Kaede explained, her confidence growing in tandem with her quiet fear of a terrible truth. Kaito’s eyes lit up with comprehension, spurring on her final question. “So… did you hear anything?”

Not a soul dared disturb the silence. Momota was uncharacteristically taciturn, the man looking lost in thought as his podium noiselessly slid into the center of the court. Kaede could feel herself growing tenser with each passing moment. Another beat. Kaito’s expression warped a little, a tinge of unease slipping into his features. Tsumugi looked like she was about to faint, the girl trembling in place with her skin becoming almost paler than Celeste’s makeup. Yet another beat. Kaede quietly let out a tired breath. “... Okay,” She whispered, pushing down a rising tar of sorrow bubbling in her heart with every scrap of strength she could muster. “Kaito, I-”

A resounding ** _slam _ **thundered through the room as Kaito slammed his fists together, a mile-wide grin splitting across his face with a booming declaration. “I’ve got it! I think I know exactly what she’s talking about!”

The once-Ultimate Pianist flinched back in absolute shock, her surprise reflected on the face of every gathered student in the room. The only exception was Tsumugi herself, whose astonishment only lasted for a second before exploding into absolute relief. “Y-You do?!” She exclaimed in delight. At least five others said the same at once with varying levels of hopefulness to surprise to outright skepticism. She couldn’t be bothered identifying who did or didn’t given the fact that she was one of them, anxiously grabbing onto the fleeting hope his words offered her.

“Yeah! It took me a minute, but now that I think about it, I do remember hearing something around then. Didn’t sound as loud to me as Tsumugi’s saying, but I’m pretty sure I heard a bump or something like that!” Kaito asserted, winking and giving a thumbs up. “So that means Tsumugi’s gotta be telling the truth!”

Kaede had never seen Tsumugi so happy in her life. “See! I told you I wasn’t the culprit!”

Teruteru fiddled with the end of his pompadour uneasily. “Not that I want to rain on this parade, but if you heard something like that, why didn’t you say something a while ago, Kaito?”

Momota rubbed at the back of his head guiltily. “My bad. Like I said, it didn’t sound all that loud in my room, so I thought it was just the pipes or something and forgot about it. Honestly, it totally slipped my mind until Kaede pointed it out.”

“You just so happened to remember exonerating evidence?” Celeste reiterated doubtfully, narrowing her eyes at the purple-clad teen. “That is remarkably _ convenient _.”

Sakura shook her head. “Perhaps, but what reason would Kaito have to lie at this point? Doing so would only protect the culprit, and he would die with us.”

“Indeed. Even putting that aside, however, there is a logical explanation for the slight discrepancy between their accounts,” Shinguji hummed thoughtfully, his yellowish eyes slowly opening as he continued. “Consider the circumstances. Comparing when precisely they claim to have heard this noise with Mondo’s testimony, it’s likely the noise she heard was him slamming his door upon leaving his room. While the rooms themselves are soundproof, we do know voices and the like carry through the door if sufficiently loud. It’s reasonable to think that it was a loud crashing sound to Tsumugi yet hardly noticeable to Kaito because of the distance between his cabin and Mondo’s compared to her own being directly across from it.”

“I see… so, by the time the noise reached Mister Momota’s cabin, it would have been much softer after contacting so many sound-dampening walls.” Kirumi extrapolated, earning a tip of the cap from the Ultimate Anthropologist.

Chiaki smiled warmly. “Since both Kaito and Tsumugi both heard the same noise, there’s no way she could have been in Sakura’s lab at the same time. Her alibi checks out.”

Absolute relief was clear on the cosplayer’s face, and in truth, Kaede felt the same. She’d felt so resigned to the possibility that Shirogane was the culprit, even if it was just for a moment, yet being able to soundly rule it out felt like she could breathe again. She met the bluenette’s gaze for a moment, a touch of guilt hitting her for doubting her friend to begin with, but she still mustered up the biggest smile she could manage. She’d owe the girl more apologies than she could count once it was all over, but at least Tsumugi would be there to hear them.

A disgusted scoff rang out from high above, disturbing the moment. “Blagh! Gross! Stop looking so damn happy, it’s making me sick!” Monokuma childishly chided from above, crossing his stubby arms with a glare. “Besides, I don’t know why you’re all smiles. Sure, you cleared one person, but that just means someone else definitely did it!”

The mood deflated like the bear had stuck it with a needle, the momentary celebration cut short as the dark reality of their situation came flooding back. Kaede’s supportive grin slowly faded away, the blonde glancing around the room to find a similar morbidness settling over everyone. “... Wicked as they are, Monokuma’s words ring true,” Gundham spoke up first, a rare touch of discomfort slipping into his voice. “The culprit has all but run out of fiends to hide behind. Our path forward is clear, but soon splits into two.”

“One of them must be the killer. But, how are we to determine which one?” Sakura pondered aloud.

“That is quite simple, Sakura. We simply examine the evidence and identify the weakest link among us,” Celeste replied unwaveringly, her gaze firmly set on the Ultimate Maid. “And I believe it is obvious who that is.”

Kirumi grasped her hands together in a small, tense ball, her gaze darkening. “Yes, I believe it is, Miss Ludenberg.”

Kaede watched on silently, the ex-pianist going over everything she knew about the case. How it was done, when, why, every fact they’d painstakingly collected to paint a picture of the culprit… a picture that was just about complete. Even if the exact details were slightly hazy and missing in some parts, there was no doubt in her mind that she knew who the killer was. _ “This is it. Once I say it, there won’t be any going back… but I can’t afford to run from the truth. I know I’m right. The only one who could have killed Hifumi is...” _

“... I think you’re right. When you think about it, all the evidence points towards one person…” Kaede said, her voice soft but unflinching as she turned towards the culprit. “... It’s you, isn’t it, Celeste?”

…

……

………

“Heh… hehehe…!”

Kaito turned to the giggling girl next to him, wariness and unease clear in his gaze. “Hey, what’s so funny?! She just said you’re the culprit!”

Celeste gave a small shake of her head, daintily covering her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Hehe… pardon me, but that is precisely what is amusing me. Truly, Kaede, we are past the point of jokes. You may make your actual accusation now.”

Akamatsu narrowed her eyes warningly. “I’m not kidding.”

The Ultimate Gambler’s tittering came to an abrupt stop, the girl staring blankly at her accuser for several moments. “... Well then, you are mistaken. I am not the culprit. The only possible explanation for this case is that Kirumi is the culprit.”

“Hm? Why can Celeste not be culprit?” Gonta asked in clear confusion.

“Because the evidence simply does not support it. There is nothing that definitively proves it was me. That is merely an assumption on Kaede’s part.”

“An assumption?” Akamatsu parroted doubtfully, pointing accusingly at Celeste. “It’s the only thing that makes sense! Everything we’ve found-”

“Applies just as much to Kirumi as it does to myself.” Ludenberg interrupted.

Korekiyo hummed, closing his eyes. “Is that so? Then perhaps you could elaborate on that. You’re in a rather precarious position should you fail…”

Celeste’s features shifted into a slight scowl. “Then I simply will not fail. For the last time, let us go over what we know, and you shall see why it simply cannot be me.”

_ “Even now, she’s still trying to get out of this… but it won’t work. I won’t let you get away with this, Celeste. There’s bound to be something I can use to prove it was you. You’ll make a mistake, and when you do, we’ll finally be able to end this…!” _

**Nonstop Debate: ** ** _START!_ **

Celeste folded her tightly clenched hands together. “While you seem so certain I’m the killer, there is **nothing that proves it outright**.”

“Tch! Bullshit! Hifumi had a reason to go after you!” Mondo growled out.

“Or it could have been for **Kirumi**,” Ludenberg denied flatly. “Besides, there is much more that implicates her than myself.”

Kirumi all but glared at the other woman. “What exactly are you referring to?”

“You knew about** Kaede’s condition**, something the killer clearly exploited with the false crime scene. You also tried to keep her from investigating. Is that not suspicious?” Celeste reminded.

Peko crossed her arms. “If Kirumi were the killer, why would she leave the bloodied washcloth in her lab, or any of the other easily collected evidence? There is **no reason **for such an oversight.”

Celeste flicked at her hair. “Unless it was to throw us off. It is the primary reason you do not suspect her, after all.”

“B-but why even bother with something like that? W-wouldn’t it be better to hide everything?” Mikan pointed out.

The goth refused to relent. “To **frame someone else **if her plan with Kaede failed, most likely.”

Teruteru jabbed a finger towards her. “You could have put it there to frame her!”

“There is no evidence **_I_** **_ever went back to Kirumi’s lab _**after my visit with Gonta,” Celeste shot back. “Do you not see? None of this actually proves what Kaede says it does. She’s simply refusing to see the truth.”

Kaito clenched his fist, gritting his teeth. “There’s no way my sidekick would do something like that!”

** _PERJURY!_ **

Kaede silently sucked in a breath. She knew the truth. Celeste _ had _ to be the killer. Anything else simply didn’t add up… yet, she was completely right. None of the clues or testimonies Kaede could think of actually proved that. The evidence was entirely circumstantial; just enough to make it clear it was a possibility, but too vague to follow through on it. She had nothing… but maybe she could _ make _something. “Are you sure about that, Celeste?”

The gambler gave a dismissive glare. “Positive. Are you willing to face reality now, or are you going to continue with this delusion?”

Akamatsu tightened her fists by her sides to keep them from moving as she looked Celeste right in the eyes. _ “Don’t blink,” _She reminded herself as the lie started to slither off her tongue. “I think you’re the one that can’t face the truth. When Mondo and I investigated Kirumi’s lab, I noticed there were some scratch marks on the floor by one of the tables. It looked like someone tried to move it, but didn’t know what they were doing and just dragged it. Gonta would have been strong enough to just pick it up, and no one else would have any reason to try moving furniture in her lab except you. That means you were definitely there at some point!”

“Gonta very careful not to scratch floors! Would be very impolite to hurt room!” Gokuhara quickly added, looking almost scandalized by the thought. Mondo gave her a momentary look of confusion before he seemed to catch on, turning towards the subject of her lie.

For the briefest of moments, Kaede could have sworn she saw Celeste flinch. It was gone as soon as it appeared, though there was a visible tension in Celeste’s brow despite her plastered smile. “Ah… that… that is…” She stumbled slightly, a hint of unease slipping into her voice. After a moment, her mask cracked, a furious growl escaping her. “That’s ** _bullshit! _ ** The floors in Kirumi’s lab are **scratch proof** ! There couldn’t have been any marks on the floor!” Celeste roared out, her elegant features twisted into a monstrous snarl as she held up her armored finger like a weapon. “Which means everything you just said is a fiction! Did you really think you could lie to ** _ME_ **, you arrogant little bitch?!”

Tsumugi jolted backwards in surprise, staring at the gambler in a mixture of fear and intrigue. “W-woah! it’s like she has two completely different personalities! But which one is Diavolo, and which is Doppio…?”

Shirogane was hardly the only one, with most of the others at least flinching at her sudden outburst. Kaede found herself reeling back in shock, her hands thrown in front of her on instinct, but that fear vanished the second she realized Ludenberg’s dire mistake. She forced herself to stand up straight, narrowing her eyes as she confidently met Celeste’s hateful gaze. “... You’re right. I was lying,” She confessed, ignoring the looks of surprise that earned and instead focusing entirely on the culprit. “But there’s **no way **you should have known that.”

Celeste froze, her eyes widening as she no doubt noticed her own folly as well. “... Excusez-moi?”

Were she a crueler person, Kaede probably would have enjoyed this. “You’re confident the floors in Kirumi’s lab are scratch proof, but Gonta just said he made sure not to risk doing that, and even if Kirumi knew one way or the other, she’d have no reason to tell you. So… how did you know?”

Celeste didn’t say a word even as her podium quietly slid into the center of the circle. In her absence, Kirumi stepped up, oh-so helpfully explaining it further. “There is no visual difference between traditional flooring and scratch resistant substitutes. Even I likely would not be able to tell the difference without being directly informed. The only way Miss Ludenberg could know is if she **saw it first-hand**.”

“Which means she definitely tried it at least once, **and **that she must have gone there at least one more time than she said! That proves she could have known about the table cloths!” Kaede concluded, completing the trap and leaving Celeste with no possible escape.

A brief pause came over the court, the information sinking in more and more with each moment. The quicker-witted among them were already deducing the full meaning of it when paired up with the rest of Celeste’s actions, but the red flags her exposed attempt to lie raised were clear to see for everyone. Mondo’s eyes were hidden behind his hair, but his silent, smoldering fury was tangible even from across the room. Tsumugi was the first to speak up. “So… Celeste really did it?”

“Sh-she has been lying a lot…” Mikan murmured guiltily, unable to even look in the other girl’s direction.

“She is the most likely suspect,” Sakura agreed, her eyes closed in thought. “Her behavior is suspicious, to say the least. I’m… uncertain why, but I’m certain I have seen her like this before.”

Kirumi folded her hands with an almost lamentful expression. “Between knowing my own innocence beyond a doubt, the evidence we have discovered, and her actions both before and during this trial, I have no doubt that Celeste is the culprit.”

Chiaki gave a small nod, though she looked more somber than anything. “I think so, too. It’s what makes the most sense with all our theories.”

A few more comments were passed around, but Kaede didn’t pay attention to them. She was focused solely on the Ultimate Gambler, who still stood as a silent statue presented before them all. As the moments ticked by without so much as a sound from her, Kaede felt her patience growing strained. “Well, Celeste? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” The leader of the group challenged.

“... So what?”

Of all the reactions Kaede had expected, that wasn’t one of them. “... Huh?”

“So. _ What? _” Celeste spat, her ruby eyes seeing to glow menacingly in the dim lighting. “Yes, I hid some of what I knew about the murder. Yes, I lied about going to Kirumi’s lab. Yes, I even lied about my memories. But, like I have been asking this entire time, what does all of that prove, exactly?” She demanded with a slightly strained voice. She stared directly into Kaede’s soul, eyes like knives as she continued. “None of it points to me any more than it does Kirumi. It’s nothing but coincidence and conjecture. Even after all this pointless debate, nothing has changed! You have proven nothing!”

“Even now, you still lash out against reality? Your determination treads dangerously close to lunacy, Witch…” Gundham rumbled, glowering at her in clear disbelief.

Kiyo chuckled lowly to himself. “My, such desperation… what a beautiful thing to witness.”

Ludenberg scowled at them both. “That so-called _ lunacy _is what’s keeping you alive! Do you want to die?! Because that is precisely what will happen if you keep up this ridiculous charade that I am the culprit!”

Kaede stifled a tired sigh as she shook her head. “Please, Celeste, just stop. We know it has to be you. I’m begging you, don’t make this any worse than it has to be.”

“You know…?” She repeated dully, an ominous edge just underneath. A second later, she barked out a mirthless laugh. “Oh, I see, you think you know everything about everything, do you?! Well, there's one little thing that I'd like you to make clear, if you're so desperate to paint me as the killer!” Celeste shoved a finger straight at Kaede. “What did I use for this stabbing in Sakura's lab?!”

Leon took a step back, tilting his head to the side. “Huh? Hang on a second, didn’t you say the murder weapon didn’t really matter earlier?”

“It ABSOLUTELY matters!” Celeste howled. “Think over Kaede's little fairy tale again. According to her, Hifumi threatened to reveal the contents of my tape if I didn’t meet with him last night, and I killed him when he cornered me, correct? But there’s one little problem with that, isn’t there, Mikan?!”

The nurse violently flinched, cowering under a fierce red glare. “Eeek! W-why are you asking me?!”

“Did you not say earlier that there was nothing on the ship that matched up with the stab wounds?” Ludenberg snarled out. Tsumiki whimpered pathetically with a tiny nod, unable to lift her head much without coming face to face with the furious woman. “And that would include Sakura’s lab, **right**?” Another nod. “And since we do not know when Hifumi supposedly initiated this little plan, and even that moron was probably smart enough not to give someone he clearly distrusted much time to prepare, we cannot reasonably say that I would absolutely have had a weapon prepared!”

Kaito put a hand on his him with a dubious look. “Couldn't you have just taken the murder weapon from the lab to your room after killing him, though? Mikan couldn’t identify something that wasn’t there, especially if it wasn’t obvious that it was missing.”

“I find that highly unlikely,” Korekiyo replied, crossing his arms. “You see, Sakura and Peko had both used that lab the night before the murder, and I had memorized everything of note about it during my first visit. And after the murder had happened, all three of us had checked the lab again either before or during investigation, not to mention the others that scoured it besides us. You and Kaede personally inspected the wall of weapons with me, in fact. And yet, not one of us noticed anything missing.”

“Indeed. Though I admittedly didn’t pay close attention this morning, I’m certain I would have noticed a weapon missing. Even if I didn’t, at least one of us should have.” Ogami confirmed.

Peko put a hand to her chin. “And yet, aside from the scratches on the bo staff, there was no sign that any of the weapons were tampered with in any way.”

Celeste grinned a sharkish smile, smugness mixing with the traces of desperation on her face. “_ Exactly _! So, allow me to make it very simple for you, Kaede; if it wasn't something from the lab, and it couldn’t be something I had prepared in advance, then there’s nothing that could possibly have killed him with this theory! In other words, your entire argument is faulty at a base level!”

Kaede fearlessly met her gaze, refusing to back down. “Celeste, why are you still fighting?! Everyone can see you did it! Just stop!” She demanded, throwing her hand out towards the others for emphasis.

“I refuse,” Celeste growled, her hateful eyes boring into Kaede. “I will not give into the lies and conjecture of some pathetic little _ amateur _! You want to accuse me of being the killer?! Fine! But until you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was me, I refuse to give any of your idiotic theories credence! I refuse to tolerate your lies!”

_ “She just won’t give up…! Even when it’s obvious, she just won’t let it end… but we’re too close to the truth to let her stop us now. If she wants me to prove the murder weapon, then… fine! I won’t let this go on any longer! There has to be _ ** _something _ ** _ she could have used! I just have to find out what. When I do, I’ll prove it beyond a doubt, and then we can finally end this class trial!” _

** _ARGUMENT ARMAMENT!_ **

** _ _ **

**“You keep insisting I’m the killer…**

**But you have nothing to prove it!**

**Nothing but half-baked conjecture and lies!”**

**“What do you have that shows I did it?!**

**None of it is definitive!**

**None of it points to me!**

**None of it matters!”**

**“YOU HAVE PROVED NOTHING!”**

**“You realize lies will get you nowhere, yes?**

**You need actual evidence.**

**You know it points to Kirumi,**

**But you’re too much of a coward to admit it!”**

**“Do you think you’re the hero?**

**I promise you are not.**

**You aren’t saving anyone.”**

**“YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A LIAR AND A FOOL!”**

**“All this worthless talk,**

**And for what?!**

**For your foolish ideals?!”**

**“No matter how hard you hope, **

**No matter how hard you try, **

**you cannot change the truth!”**

**“You claim I had some weapon?!**

**Nonsense! It’s impossible!**

**Nothing dangerous was missing!”**

**“Can’t you see?!**

**I had no way to get such a thing,**

**And even if I somehow did…”**

** _“THERE IS NOWHERE I COULD HIDE IT!”_ **

**INSIDE **OF THE _PARASOL!_

***

In an instant, it clicked. The one aspect of this case that had alluded all of them from the start of the trial practically slammed into her like a truck, the clinching evidence that confirmed it could only have been one person. With that certainty coursing through her, Kaede made her final accusation. “I’m not lying, Celeste… and you just made me realize how to prove it.”

“Oh, what are you blathering about now?! More deranged fantasies about my supposed crime?!” Celeste hissed out through grit teeth.

Kaede didn’t rise to the bait, keeping a level gaze as she began to put the last nails in the gambler’s coffin. “A moment ago, you said nothing dangerous was missing, and that’s true. No matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find a murder weapon… but maybe we couldn’t find anything because we were looking for the wrong things.”

“Looking for the wrong things…?” Tsumugi repeated questioningly, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Akamatsu nodded, holding up a finger. “This whole time, we’ve been looking for something that looks dangerous, but what if the murder weapon didn’t look like a weapon at all?”

“The murder weapon didn’t- are you joking?! What kind of stupid argument is that?!” Ludenberg sputtered, her accent slipping completely as she glared daggers into the ex-Ultimate Pianist.

“No, I’m not. Think about it. The sword we found in Hifumi’s room looked incredibly dangerous, but it was completely harmless. If something like that was on the ship, isn’t it possible something else could be the opposite?” Kaede argued.

Leon gave her a dubious look. “What, like a **hidden weapon**? Isn’t that sort of thing only in comic books and crap?”

“No. Hidden blades are very much real, though very rare to come by legally. I have had some experience with them in the past.” Peko countered, not taking her icy gaze off of Celeste.

Korekiyo swayed a finger with a hum. "Indeed. Such devices have been used for centuries. They were especially popular amongst European nobles in the 19th century… as I'm sure someone of your tastes would be aware, Celeste."

Celeste scoffed, crossing her arms. “Really? A hidden sword? How preposterous. You really must be desperate. Even if such a thing is _ hypothetically _ possible, there is nothing that would tie this little fairy tale to me. So, would you kindly do us all a favor and _ shut your goddamn mouth?! _"

"You say that, but there's definitely something you have that could be the murder weapon!" Kaede pointed at Celeste with pure determination. "Your **parasol**!"

Celeste reeled back for a moment, her eyes as wide as dinner plates, before she rocketed forward and slammed a hand down on her podium. "_My_ _parasol_?! This is insanity! You can't actually believe this!"

Chiaki rubbed at her chin in thought. "If the blade is designed to fit inside her umbrella, it would make sense that the stab wounds don't line up with any of the other weapons here…"

Sakura closed her eyes as she spoke. "It would also explain why she wasn't carrying it during the investigation despite doing so for most of yesterday. Out of sight, out of mind."

"Oh, what a surprise! After being woken by the body discovery announcement, my first instinct _ wasn't _ to grab my parasol! Clearly that means I am the killer, right? _ Idiot _!" The gambler snapped furiously.

Chiaki shook her head. "What you're saying does make sense… but a logical explanation doesn't always mean it's the right one."

With absolute certainty, Kaede dealt the final blow. "If what I'm saying is so ridiculous, why don't we take a look at it for ourselves? If I'm wrong, then there's no reason for you to say no!"

Celeste looked positively feral. "I will not! I will not entertain this _ fucking insanity _!"

Gundham scowled at her. "Fine, then. If we must rely upon the black and white devil to prove your deceit, then we shall do so shamelessly!" He roared before turning to face their headmaster. "Monokuma, we call upon… what?"

"Gundham? What's… huh?" Kaede began to ask, only to cut herself off as she found the cause of his confusion. To her great surprise, Monokuma was nowhere to be seen, his throne empty.

"Huh? Where the hell did he go?" Mondo called out, looking as baffled as Kaede felt.

"Up here, my beloved blackened~!"

Everyone's heads snapped up practically in unison, Kaede swiveling on the spot to face the source of the sound. Sure enough, gracefully floating through the air was Monokuma, the bear comically hanging onto Celeste's parasol wearing a tiny flower-adorned hat and a red and black scarf. "A spoonful of evidence makes the hope die out, the hope die out, the hope die out! A spoonful of evidence makes your hope die out in the most delightful way~! Puhuhuhu!" He giddily sang out as he elegantly drifted over to his throne, landing in his seat with a small flurish of the umbrella. "Don't worry, kiddos! Mono Poppins is here!"

"Mono Poppins?" Kirumi said flatly, the maid looking beyond unimpressed with his act.

Kaito let out a scoff. "I swear, if he starts saying anything about how he's practically perfect in every way…"

Monokuma smirked at that. "Oh? But I absolutely am, Mister Momota!" He jeered, earning a universal glare from the gathered students. The bear tapped a paw against his nonexistent chin with a hum. "But do you know what's definitely _ not _ perfect in every way? This umbrella! While I was floating down here, the handle kept coming loose! Y'know, it's almost as if…" Monokuma trailed off as he twirled the umbrella in his paws so he could look at the handle. He grabbed onto it and started tugging with a small grunt, twisting it back and forth. After a few moments, there was a soft _ click _, and with a small 'aha!' and a flick of his wrist, the umbrella was carelessly thrown off to the side…

Revealing the sharp glint of a stainless steel blade.

Shocked gasps resounded throughout the courtroom. "S-sacre bleu!" Teruteru cried out, his eyes all but bulging out of his skull.

“Wh- holy shit, man!” Leon elegantly declared.

Tsumugi stared at it slack jawed. “I- I can’t believe it! I thought only singing undead pirates had things like that!”

Mikan was just as bug-eyed as the Ultimate Chef, her greyish purple irises locked completely with the blade. Rather than let out another shocked cry as her peers had, however, Tsumiki’s body language suddenly became very rigid as she stood up to full height. “M-Monokuma… c-could I see that for a second, please?” The nurse asked with an alarming seriousness that seemed almost ill-fitting for the often panic stricken girl. 

“Of course! I’m always glad to help my darling students!” He cheerily agreed, hopping down off his throne and balancing the blade between both paws in offering as he approached her.

Mikan delicately took the blade, slowly and carefully examining it from point to handle. Kaede couldn’t see exactly what she was doing with it, but after a few moments, she almost reluctantly turned around to face the group. “It… it’s a perfect match for Hifumi’s stab wounds. I’m positive this is what killed him.”

A knowing silence fell over the court. No one bothered to say a word, the undeniable truth clear to see right before them. Even Celeste was completely silent, a look of absolute disbelief petrified on her face. A few students had gotten over the shock of the reveal and had turned towards the culprit, but whatever they might have been hoping for, the Ultimate Gambler was clearly too deep inside her own head to even try denying it any longer. 

“... Well then. It seems we have found our culprit.” Korekiyo finally spoke up, spurring the others to action.

Tsumugi slumped forward slightly, a disheartened expression on her face. “It would plainly be pretty hard to prove otherwise after that…”

“Then let’s hurry up and get this the hell over with.” Mondo rumbled warningly, his face masked in shadow and arms crossed threateningly. 

“... Not… yet…”

Kaede blinked, almost thinking she’d imagined the words for a moment. The quiet yet determined voice was none other than the Ultimate Gambler’s, yet it sounded almost alien to hear it lacking the confidence or bite it usually held. It was almost resigned, in a way, yet firm enough that there was clearly something she wanted first. Kaede knew it well. 

She had spoken the same way when she asked the Ultimate Detective to well and truly bring the truth to light, after all.

Kaito let out a groan. “Oh, for the love of- why are you still fighting this?! It’s obvious you’re the killer!”

Celeste glanced at him wearily. “Until the game is over, you never know what might happen. I have lived and died by those words, and I see no reason to change now,” She explained, the slightest hint of a frown pulling at her features as her gaze drifted back to Kaede and hardened. “I will not lose on a popular assumption. Until every last card is on the table, I will not give up… so…” She took a breath, and in an instant, the fading embers of her prior determination burst anew. “Prove it! If you’re so sure of your deductions, then show it was me, because I won’t give in a second sooner than that!”

“This is pointless. Even you can’t bring yourself to deny it outright anymore. We should just vote.” Peko said sternly, her eyes narrowed with unconcealed disdain.

“... No, I don’t think so,” Chiaki disagreed, her eyes remaining on the final suspect as she spoke. “Even if the culprit is obvious, we should still go over everything that happened in this case. Once the truth is revealed… then we can do it.”

Kaito nodded affirmingly. “Chiaki’s right. We owe it to Hifumi to figure out exactly what happened,” He said before smiling at Kaede. “And I’ll leave that up to you, Kaede. Reveal the truth!”

“H-huh? Me? But…” She started, caught off guard by the sudden command, before stopping herself. She steeled herself with a solemn nod. “... No, you’re right. This is my responsibility. We should never have had this class trial, but I’m going to end it, here and now.”

Kaede closed her eyes with a breath, thinking over every last detail of the case from start to end. Every bit of evidence and testimony, every lie and omission, everything that they’d fought tooth and nail to learn with their lives on the line. The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place one by one in her mind until it was all in front of her, and once it did, she didn’t hesitate. She would end this case, just like Shuichi did for her. Kaede Akamatsu’s eyes snapped open, burning with determination. “This is the truth of this case!”

** _Closing Argument!_ **

_ “It all started yesterday morning, when Monokuma revealed the new motive: videos detailing the previous murders of everyone here. _

_ While it’s impossible to know for sure when exactly Hifumi received his tape, we know that he definitely watched it at some point. As it turns out, he had the culprit’s video. In their killing game, the culprit tricked Hifumi into committing murder, and when he found out, he was determined to make sure that would never happen again. _

_ Hifumi was afraid we wouldn’t believe him if he just told us what was on his tape, so he came up with a different plan. He was going to blackmail the culprit into admitting it by threatening to show their video to everyone if they didn’t meet with him in Sakura’s lab after nighttime started. He bought a fake sword from the casino, but he left it in his room after realizing it was a prop. The culprit is a skilled liar and he knew that, so he probably figured they would see through the fake. He probably slid a note under the culprit’s door with his demands and spent the rest of the day preparing to confront them. With his trap set, Hifumi waited. _

_ What he didn’t bet on, though, was that the culprit could have a weapon ready by the time they met. That day, the culprit had a poker match with four other people, including myself, where they won a massive amount of monocoins. As it turns out, though, these bets weren’t just for fun. _

_ The culprit used the money they earned from the game to buy a parasol from the token exchange in the casino. But it wasn’t just any parasol… it was secretly a sword in disguise. Even if the culprit didn’t know that at the time, it would ultimately become their murder weapon. _

_ Nothing happens until later that night. With everyone worried about the motive, most people went to bed early, including Hifumi. One of the people that didn’t was the culprit, who was up and about until meeting with Kirumi at nine-fifteen. This gave them an alibi for more of the night than most people. _

_ Once they returned to their room, though, they probably found Hifumi’s blackmail letter, putting them on edge. Because of the victim in Hifumi’s case, they couldn’t risk their involvement becoming known, or else they’d be in danger. With no other choice, they waited until after nighttime and went to meet with him. _

_ Sakura was in her lab until ten-thirty last night, so Hifumi probably set the meeting for sometime late, like eleven. Thinking they’d be alone with Hifumi, they brought along the parasol they bought for self-defense. What neither Hifumi or the culprit counted on, though, was that there would be no less than three people on the second deck during their meeting. _

_ Feeling restless, I went to my lab and tried to play the piano for a while, but I... made a mistake, and passed out, leaving me on the second deck well into nighttime. At some point while I was unconscious, Monkuma sent out the last batch of motive videos… including Hifumi’s video. It went to the worst possible person it could have. Mondo saw his best friend be murdered by Hifumi and instantly wanted revenge, which sent him upstairs searching for him. Tsumugi was still awake and heard him slam his door, and so did the final person to go upstairs. Because I was passed out, I never met with Kaito for our usual workout, meaning he got a late start on it at eleven-fifteen. All three of us were unintentionally interrupting Hifumi’s plan, and as it turns out, the culprit’s. _

_ Not realizing I was in my lab, Hifumi waited for the culprit to show up for the meeting somewhere out of sight like Kirumi’s lab so that he could follow after them and make sure he was between them and the unlocked door. He would have known the main door was locked if he tried going in the lab at any point, and probably planned around that. Once his target walked in, he followed them in. Whatever they said to each other must have gone badly, as Hifumi ended up cornering the culprit. That was the last mistake he ever made. _

_ Using the sword hidden inside the parasol, the culprit stabbed Hifumi twice. Shaken, the culprit probably tried to leave the lab, but ended up trapped when Mondo came storming past. Desperate not to be seen with a dead body, they grabbed one of the bo staffs from the wall and used it to block the door. _

_ By then, I’d woken up and was trying to get back to the dorms when I ran into Mondo. After I found out what he was planning, we got into an argument that kept escalating until he attacked me with a dumbbell. Kaito overheard the commotion and came rushing over. What we didn’t realize at the time was that he wasn’t the only one that heard us: the culprit was able to hear almost our entire fight through the door. Hearing us talk things out and realizing we were going to keep it a secret, the culprit got the perfect idea of how to get away with their unplanned murder. _

_ After waiting for us to leave, the culprit started looking around for anything they could use to move the body. They checked behind the stage to find the lift Gundham mentioned earlier and tried to move Hifumi’s body with it, but had a problem because of its weight limit. Still determined to do their plan, they changed strategies and used the lift and the bo staff to dump his body into one of the ball carts. Figuring he might leave blood on it, the culprit was careful to put down something to catch it - a tablecloth from Kirumi’s lab. _

_ With the body in the cart, the culprit quickly brought it to my lab, planning on framing Mondo and I and using our fight to strong-arm me into staying silent. But, they hit yet another snag as Hifumi’s body was too heavy for them to push upwards. At this point, they were in too deep to stop, so they got creative. They grabbed as many dumbbells as they could carry from Sakura’s lab - including Mondo’s - and put them in duffle bags to serve as a counter weight for the bo staff. _

_ With all that weight on their side and a running start, the culprit was finally able to shove his body onto the piano like they originally planned, but the ramp of the ball cart snapped off from the pressure. Too heavy to lift, they had no choice but to leave it there and just try to hide it from view. _

_ That was when the culprit started the last stage of their plan: making Hifumi’s body as shocking as possible to throw everyone off. They took the keylid of the piano, lined Hifumi’s head up with it, and slammed it down as hard and as many times as they could. That way, the true cause of death from stabbing was covered up by his head wounds. “Killing” him like that also pointed towards Mondo because of his murder, which the culprit was well aware of. _

_ Once they were finally done setting the scene, the culprit tried to dispose of as much evidence as they could. They covered up the fact that the cart was damaged by pressing it against the wall and filling it with balls again, put the bo staff back in place, and tried to wash the tablecloth to get rid of the bloodstains. But, the culprit made some mistakes. They grabbed the dumbbells without realizing there was a particular order to them, so when they put them back, it was a complete mess. They also accidentally put Mondo’s dumbbell with the others, proving they must have known about it. Lastly, they didn’t notice the bit of blood left on the stage lift, which showed it was definitely part of the murder. _

_ Once the body was discovered the next morning, the culprit tried to manipulate the investigation by giving hints and theories meant to throw us off. They told me they were suspicious of Tsumugi and used a favor I owed them to make me investigate Hifumi’s room to find any clues. What they weren’t planning on was us actually finding anything. At the same time, they played up Tsumugi’s suspicions of me, convincing her to stay silent about what she saw and heard last night. This was so they could spring it on me once I tried to cover for Mondo during the trial, planning on using the confusion to pin it on us. Even when that failed, they were clever enough to craft a narrative from the circumstantial evidence to shift their framejob onto Kirumi and Tsumugi. _

_ The culprit wasn’t originally planning on killing Hifumi, but once they did, they were determined to win this killing game. Bluffing and misdirection is their talent, and they would use every bit of it they had to try and rig this trial in their favor. All they had to do was make sure someone else was at least as suspicious as they were, and they could get away with it… but that was their last mistake. They didn’t plan on me refusing to stop fighting for my friends even when it seemed so obvious who the culprit was. They thought their lies would be convincing enough to blind me to the truth… but they were wrong. _

_ _

_ That’s what happened, isn’t it? You lied to all of us, tried to turn us against each other by playing off our doubts… but it was that trust in others you said was so naive that led us to the truth behind your lies, Celestia Ludenberg!” _

** _FINISH!_ **

For the last time, silence fell over the court. Kaede’s gaze was locked with the Ultimate Gambler’s, Celeste gritting her teeth. “... I…” She forced out, voice low and wavering. “... I… fold.”

Kaede let out a quiet sigh of both relief and remorse, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion. “Are you admitting it?” She asked wearily.

Celeste gave a slow, small nod. “There is no use denying it any longer. You got a few details wrong… but that is essentially what happened.”

“Then it’s true… you’re really the one who killed Hifumi…” Kaito said more to himself than anyone in particular, his hand tightly balled in a fist.

“Oui. It was my doing.” Celeste replied simply, crossing her arms with a small frown.

“It seems all your fight has left you, Celeste. It’s almost disappointing to see such a shift.” Korekiyo mused.

Celeste shook her head. “I do not lose often. When I do, I prefer to keep things from dragging out… as such, I believe it is time, Monokuma.”

“Wh- ** _no!_ **” Mondo shouted out as he slammed a fist down on his podium. “You’re not gettin’ off that easy! You’re gonna fuckin’ explain this shit! You’re gonna tell me why you got Taka killed!”

Monokuma cackled from up above. “Nope, I think she’s right! This is in the running for the longest ever trial already! In fact…” He pressed an unseen button and a previously hidden hourglass popped up from the armrest of his throne, the top nearly entirely empty. “Wow! Five more minutes, and it would have been an end by time out anyway! So close! Ah well, let’s move along to the nerve-wracking voting time! At last, the heart-racing conclusion where the blackened and the spot-, er, other blackened - finally face off! Please press the button in front of you to cast your vote! Oh, and remember,” His eye glowed ominously as his smile warped into something monstrous. “Make sure you vote too, or you’ll be joining our culprit in the execution grounds! So, will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one…? Puhuhuhu!”

“V-voting time?” Kaede paroted dumbly as a screen on her podium suddenly flashed to life. On it was sixteen boxes with the faces of herself and her fellow blackened, sans Hifumi, whose portrait was greyed out. Her stomach dropped. _ Of course _ . In her desperation to solve the case, it somehow slipped her mind just what winning the trial actually _ meant _.

Celeste was going to die. She was going to be executed yet again, and Kaede was the one responsible for bringing it about. Akamatsu tasted bile, her stomach twisting at the sudden realization. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to cause anyone else to die. She _ promised _Rantaro would be the last one to suffer such a fate because of her… but, then, what choice did Celeste give her? There’s no way Kaede could have let her get away with it. Not with everyone’s lives on the line. They had to vote for her. Refusing to vote was suicide, and voting for anyone else at that point was simply cowardice. Ultimately, Celeste had brought this end on herself as much as Kaede had the first time. It was with that thought that Kaede hesitantly brought her finger to the screen, selected Celeste’s portrait, and confirmed her vote.

It was no surprise when a computerized chime went off and the giant screens above displayed a unanimous fifteen marks next to Celeste’s name and face, nor when the animated slot machine of culprits came to a stop on three Celestes with a triumphant bing and a thunderous clattering of monocoins. “Congratulations! It goes without saying at this point, but you’re correct! The blackened responsible for killing Hifumi Yamada is none other than Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler!”

Celeste gave a small sigh. “Twice in a row… it seems my luck truly has run out.”

“Celeste…” Kaede began, only to trail off, the words unable to come to her through the storm of conflicted feelings raging inside her.

“Gonta… Gonta not understand. What important enough that Celeste kill friend to keep secret? Why not just tell friends like Hifumi wanted you to? Why Celeste do this?” Gokuhara asked forlornly. 

“Who gives a shit?” Mondo spat bitterly, clenching his fists with rage as he looked at the culprit. “I don’t give a flying fuck why you killed that fat bastard. Just tell me why you got him to kill Taka.”

“... He was an easy target,” Celeste finally admitted. “After you died, he became unhinged. Harmless, perhaps, but detached from reality. When I saw his rivalry with Hifumi grow, I saw my opportunity to get two people out of the way and took it. Honestly, it was far from personal.”

“Are you fucking ** _joking_ **?” He hissed out. “Do you expect me to believe that shit?! Even if that were true, why the hell’d you go after him if you weren’t gonna kill him yourself?!”

Sakura shook her head, a thoughtful look on her face. “No… I remember, now. That was part of your plan, wasn’t it, Celeste?”

Ludenberg thinned her lips, but before she could speak, a high-pitched giggle made the group turn around to glower at their sadistic headmaster. “Puhuhu… allow me to shed some light on things. As a bonus reward for finding the blackened, allow me to present the episode of Ultimate Crimes that Mister Yamada viewed shortly before this whole thing: Miss Celestia Ludenberg!” He cheerily announced, and a moment later, the screens flicked to a screen similar to the one Kaede had seen for Mondo’s tape. Soon after, it began to play.

It spoke of her past and talent, how she became a legendary figure among both illegal and professional poker associations for her unrivaled skill and luck. How bright and prosperous future she had ahead that was just waiting for her to seize it… and then the killing game happened. The motive of ten million dollars was enough to sway her into trying to escape, where she took advantage of Hifumi’s devotion to her to trick him into thinking Kiyotaka had not only kidnapped his beloved Alter Ego, but assaulted her and planned to kill him. He went along with her plan to get him out of the way… only to die as her victim once he outlived his usefulness.

Kaede was speechless, unable to do anything but stare blankly in shock even as the screen flicked back off. It was too horrible to believe, yet evidently true. Disgust churned in her stomach, the ex-pianist feeling nothing but revolted by what she’d heard. Her gaze slowly drifted back to Celeste, but the goth didn’t pay her any mind, her face completely blank as she simply kept her arms firmly pressed against herself. Akamatsu simply observed as her thoughts swirled and tried to solidify into something certain.

“W-wait… H-Hifumi was a victim…?” Mikan questioned, clearly struggling to process the information.

“In more ways than one,” Korekiyo hummed. “To be manipulated and betrayed so thoroughly by someone you trust completely… I doubt there are words in existence to express how that must feel. It’s little wonder Hifumi was so outraged when he discovered the truth.”

Mondo’s eyes were miles wide, the biker’s jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. “... He thought Taka… he thought we was protectin’ people by killing him…? You did all that… for a fuckin’ _ fairy tale castle… _?!” He murmured to himself, his face slowly shifting into a snarl. He didn’t bother saying a word, only making a low growl as he took an aggressive step away from his podium before almost instantly being firmly grabbed by the arm by Kirumi. He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn’t give him the opportunity.

“_ Don’t _, Mister Owada. You know what’s going to happen next. Don’t subject us to any more deaths today than we have to.”

Mondo tensed, trying to rip his arm back as he prepared to yell something… but, ultimately, shut his mouth with a dark glare as he stopped resisting her hold. She didn’t let go until he fully returned to his stand, but by then, he was entirely focused on Celeste. “... Fine. But we both know you’re gettin’ better than you deserve, you evil _ bitch _.”

Celeste simply hummed. “I’m under no delusions about the sort of person I am. Whatever end I meet, it is ultimately the one I chose. That’s all that really matters.”

“You can’t mean that!” Kaito roared, glaring at her through grit teeth. “Don’t you get what you’ve done?! People died because of what you chose! Those guys mattered!”

The goth’s gaze darkened as she scowled. “I will not be lectured on the value of life by a known murderer. Don’t waste my last moments with your hypocrisy.”

Kaito flinched, his bravado dying away to a quieter outrage as he simply gazed down at his clenched fist. In his place, Chiaki spoke up. “... Putting that aside, all this explains why he went after you. He didn’t trust you not to do the same thing again, so he tried to fix the problem himself...” The gamer summarized, earning a small nod from Celeste. “I see. And… I think I get why he didn’t think showing us the tape would work, too.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. It seems pretty damn believable to me. Why didn’t the guy just tell us the truth instead of all this?” Leon wondered aloud.

Kaede stirred from her thoughts slightly. “... Are you talking about the **fake video**?”

“Yep. Think about it. According to this video, Hifumi is the only person here that didn’t get executed. Isn’t that kind of weird? He probably thought Celeste would use that as a way of saying the tape was fake. Monokuma could fake someone being executed, but it would be a lot harder to do something like that if there were people examining the body, right?” Nanami theorized.

Kirumi’s face fell lamentfully. “I see… between that possibility and his already worrisome self-doubt, Mister Yamada was convinced we would side with Miss Ludenberg over him and subsequently be in danger.”

“The Alpha and the Omega took it upon himself to prevent her deceptions… and paid for it with his life.” Gundham added darkly.

A bitter scoff erupted from Celeste. “You’re all putting him through this heroic lens, forgetting the fact that he was the one that targeted _ me _. Perhaps it is easier for you to see him as the victim through and through, but he was hardly innocent in all this. Tell me, do you press someone into a corner when you’re merely trying to talk to them?”

“That is worth acknowledging. If he only wanted to make sure she couldn’t leave, he could have stayed by the side door. He chose to pursue Celeste further into the lab.” Peko pointed out, though she seemed somewhat conflicted by it.

Chiaki frowned, but put a finger to her chin in thought. “That’s true, too… in the end, there’s only one person here that really knows how everything happened. Could you tell us, Celeste?”

“I… must admit, I have some questions of my own, if you are willing. You said Kaede was incorrect at points during her explanation. Could you elaborate on that?”

Kaede’s head snapped up again at that. A part of her wanted to refuse her the opportunity, bitter and hateful over what the gambler had done to Hifumi before and during this game, yet another couldn’t help but want to hear the other girl out. Every story had two sides… even if one of those sides was a remorseless murderer. Celeste stayed quiet for a long moment, seeming to consider the requests, before eventually offering a nod. “I suppose there is nothing for me to lose at this point. Very well. The first, and biggest, misconception of all this is that Hifumi gave me any sort of forewarning…”

***

_ Under most circumstances, Celeste wouldn’t have risked being out during nighttime. Sure, she’d only really proposed the unofficial rule to stay in the dorms the first time around because it let her have control over _ ** _something _ ** _ in that damned school, but the fact was that it was also simply good advice. Being caught alone was simply too great a danger to justify wandering about so late. It made sense. _

_ Except these weren’t normal circumstances, and nothing made any sense. _

_ She died. She knew for a _ ** _fact _ ** _ she did. She felt the fire at her feet, the smoke invading her lungs, that ridiculous _ ** _fucking firetruck rushing towards her-_ **

_ Yet here she was, alive and well on a boat full of other murderers, including three men she’d seen die before her eyes. It was insane. Hope’s Peak had been gruelling enough, but at least there was some form of logic to it. People that died stayed dead, no matter how uncanny Alter Ego’s imitations were. She could be certain the basic laws of reality applied, and like any other game, plan around them accordingly. _

_ Here, however? Here, she could be certain of nothing. Celestia Ludenberg was supposed to have absolute control of whatever situation she found herself in, yet she didn’t even know where to start here. As inescapable as it was, at least Hope’s Peak was a stationary building. She knew exactly where she was, even if what was outside its walls was less certain than she’d have liked. How exactly was she supposed to figure out where she was on a random boat in the middle of the sea?! Even if she had the skill to read the stars or the like, nothing shone through the unnaturally dark clouds above. She was stranded with people she knew for _ ** _certain _ ** _ were willing to kill, including eleven whom she had no firm basis of understanding or knowledge to work with, and all without even a possibility of someone outside knowing where she was. _

_ It was maddening how powerless she felt. She obliterated every last trace of Taeko Yasuhiro to never feel that way again, and yet that smug bastard of a stuffed bear had complete and utter control over her. She’d never show it -Celestia Ludenberg was never intimidated, after all- but that didn’t change the overwhelming restlessness surging through her body. The poker game was fun, and surprisingly, she’d actually found herself enjoying the company almost as much as the game itself, but it had been a fleeting distraction that soon gave way to her more unwelcome thoughts. Same with her prize she bought with her winnings, as lovely as it was. _

_ Considering all that, she didn’t feel particularly bad about choosing to spend some time in her lab even after her prior expedition that night. She took precautions, of course; she had figured out rather early into the previous game that the student handbooks were what allowed the students to see each other’s locations, and a minor experiment with Gonta had proven the same of these so-called monopads. As such, she simply left hers in her room, allowing her to travel without fear of being tracked. The door had to be blocked with one of the chairs from the poker table in place of its proper pad-requiring lock in turn, but the result was just as effective. No one would be getting in, nor would they even have a reason to look for her there. It was the perfect set up to distract herself with some of the games in the casino. _

_ And so that is exactly what she did. For just over an hour, she allowed herself to simply be in her element, with no mask to wear beyond what she chose to for her own enjoyment. It might have been a bit much to bring the parasol along, really, but it simply fit her aesthetic too much to justify leaving it behind when she was trying to truly feel like the Ultimate Gambler again. Even when she’d had her fill of gambling for the night, she couldn’t quite bring herself to go back to her dorm, a part of her insisting on reexamining Kirumi’s lab for anything more of worth despite all but picking it clean earlier. That desire ultimately won out over the idea of once again being stuck with the incessant fear that was Taeko’s internal monologue whenever she let her persona drop. _

_ It would be the worst mistake she would ever make. _

_ After finding little of interest, and finding the little left that was worthwhile was much too heavy for her to move (thankfully, the floors didn’t seem to scratch despite the horrid sound of the table moving across it), she finally ran out of excuses to avoid bed and somewhat reluctantly started on her way back to her cabin… _

_Only to nearly jump in surprise as she rounded the corner and saw Hifumi storming down the hallway. He looked positively furious, and not merely the sort of pathetic, child-like tantrums he entered whenever someone disrespected an anime he enjoyed. The absolute hatred she could see emanating from him even from about ten yards away was the sort she’d only seen when she spun the tale of Taka’s supposed rampage. _**_“Hifumi…? What_** **_the hell? He shouldn’t be up here…!” _**_She thought to herself, a slight bit of fear shooting up her spine. Hifumi looked up, and for the briefest of moments, his eyes locked with hers, and she realized _**_exactly_**_ what the cause of his fury was. _**_“... Oh, hell.”_**

_ Her first instinct was to step back and hide around the corner, an instinct she gladly followed, but it was too little too late. “YOU! COME BACK!” Hifumi’s voice screeched, his laborious footsteps thundering down the hall as he doubtlessly began to run towards her. That trace of fear suddenly blossomed into a raging fire, the goth stuck in place for a moment in sheer fright. Fuck, fuck, fuck, this wasn’t supposed to happen! What the hell were the odds of him getting _ ** _that _ ** _ tape?! She had to get away, but where was safe besides the dorms, the exact hallway he was coming from?! _ ** _“... Wait! This place has another door, doesn’t it?!” _ ** _ She remembered in a burst of brilliance, quickly grabbing the door to Sakura’s lab and exploding into the room. Hifumi had the head start on her, but if she was fast enough, she could use the other door to get past him and back to her room! Yes! Of course there was a way to win; she was Celestia goddamn Ludenberg, and she would never go down to something as minor as bad luck! With that hope pushing her forward, she ran as fast as she possibly could towards the other door, grabbing it and pulling with all her might- _

_ But it didn’t budge. _

_ She stared at it in absolute disbelief. “Wh- no! Open, you piece of shit!” Taeko hissed as she desperately tugged on the door to no avail. In a panic, she tried pushing it instead, only to be met with the same result. “No, damn it! what the hell is wrong with this thing?!” _

_ After a second more of fruitless struggling, she gave up, sprinting away from the locked door back to the open one with her fist tightened around that stupid umbrella like a lifeboat. Control. She had to have control, or she was already dead. That was what Celeste was all about, and it held true now. Okay, that plan was shot, but she could still- _

_ Hifumi stepped into the doorframe, and she stopped dead in her tracks. The obese man snarled at her, pointing a finger accusingly. “There you are!” _

**BA-DUMP.**

_ Despite the absolute terror she felt, Celeste managed to plaster a polite smile. “Ah, Hifumi. This is a pleasant surprise,” She lied so blatantly that she had to fight back a cringe at how fake it sounded. “How are-” _

_ “No! Stop talking like that! Don’t pretend we’re friends!” Hifumi snapped, eyes narrowing hatefully. He was shaking with rage as he slammed the door shut behind him and took a menacing step forward. Taeko stepped back on instinct, but managed to only let her smile fall rather than let her fear show entirely. She didn’t say a word, prompting him to continue. “You… you’re despicable! Heinous! Absolutely evil!” _

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

_ “I-I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have I done something to offend you?” She tried to play dumb as she internally scrambled for a plan on how to get past the approaching blob. _

_ A squealing cry of anger was his response. “Offend- are you serious?! Do you really think I’m that dumb?! I know what you did!” He hissed with another step. _

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

_ Celeste could hear her heart thundering louder in her ears with every inch she moved backwards, but she tried everything in her power to keep at least slightly calm. _ ** _“Shit…! I can’t lie to him outright about it at this point, but maybe I could convince him the video was wrong somehow…?!” _ ** _ She desperately thought to herself. “... H-Hifumi, I can explain. I promise that it’s not what you think-” _

_ “Not what I think?! What part of you tricking me into murdering an innocent person and then _ ** _KILLING ME _ ** _ isn’t what I think, Miss Luden- no, Yasihiro?! Mister Ishimaru never did the things you said! You lied to me! You- you bashed my head open with a hammer! What part of this is anything but horrible?!” _

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

_ Celeste glanced behind her, her stomach dropping as she realized just how quickly she was running out of room between herself and the wall. She raised her hands pleadingly as she failed to completely hide the tremor in her voice. “Th- that isn’t-!” _

_ “Yes it is! You know it! And you’re going to tell everyone the truth!” _

_ Taeko nearly stumbled as she backed into the gravel pit, the stones shifting beneath her feet before she could prepare for it. “You know I can’t! Mondo would kill me if I did!” She bit back furiously, her accent falling completely. To hell with her act; she was in a life or death situation! Anger mixed with her ever-growing fear as she shoved a finger towards him. If he couldn’t be reasoned with, she’d scare him into silence. “He’ll kill you, too, you idiot! If he finds out, we’re both as good as dead!” _

_ Hifumi cringed, paling considerably at that. For a brief moment, she thought she had a moment, but he furiously shook his head. “W-well… if no one knows, then you’ll be free to hurt me or someone else again! Even if he is terrifying, at least I know I can trust what Mister Owada will do! If you don’t tell him, I will!” _

_ Something hard hit her back, and Taeko’s blood turned to ice. No. Oh, god, no. Hifumi was still closing in, but she was literally against the wall. Her breaths were ragged with fright even as she glared hatefully at the man in front of her. “D-do you really think anyone will believe you, you worthless tub of lard?! You come up with bullshit as a talent! No one’ll take you seriously compared to me!” _

_ Hifumi’s expression exploded into righteous fury. “Grgh! I… I don’t care! I won’t let you hurt anyone else!” _

**BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP-BA-DUMP.**

_ He kept going forward, and with literally no other options, Taeko made the only choice she could. _ ** _“.... Fuck it!” _ ** _ She thought as she surged forward and tried to rush past him, letting out a shriek as he roughly grabbed her by the arm and tugged her back towards the wall. “Urg-! N-no! Let me go!” _

_ “No! You aren’t getting away with this again! I, Hifumi Yamada, shall- ARGH!” She slammed the parasol against his face, making him let go of her in surprise. Running on pure adrenaline, she swung it from the opposite direction, but he just barely managed to catch it in his hand and grab on for dear life. “H-HEY! STOP IT!” _

_ He grabbed for her with his other arm, catching her by the shoulder as she frantically tried to pull the closest thing she had to a weapon out of his hand. _

**BADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMP-**

_ It shook and shuddered in his shockingly firm grasp, but refused to come loose, until suddenly… _

** _SHLINK!_ **

_ The umbrella didn’t move… but in her hand was the handle, and two feet of glinting steel. She could only stare in absolute shock for a moment, her brain unable to process what she was seeing. Hifumi was much the same, a startled ‘wha-?!’ escaping him even as he came back to his senses. Unfortunately, he was just a second too slow. _

_ Operating on pure instinct, Taeko blindly thrusted the blade at him, watching as the cold metal effortlessly slid into his body. Hifumi let out a strangled gasp, his eyes bulging out of his skull as he numbly looked down at the sword in his chest in pure shock. Without even fully realizing what she’d done, the panicked girl pulled back and stabbed him once again with a yell, pushing the blade into him with enough force that his weakened body gracelessly tumbled to the ground. _

_ Taeko stumbled back, her lungs burning with each laboring breath. Her heart felt like it could explode. Once she finally caught her breath, however, her eyes drifted up to Hifumi’s still form, and a cold horror washed over her. “Oh, no… no, no…” She whispered to herself as she shakily approached him, a hand rising to her mouth. Without a doubt, he was dead, crimson staining his once immaculately white shirt and turning his grey blazer a sickly shade of dark red. “No, no, no…” _

_ Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. She didn’t mean to do… THAT! Killing him was one thing, but killing him _ ** _without a plan_ ** _ ?! What the HELL was she going to do?! She’d be found out for sure! She couldn’t die again, not in this hellhole, not over a stupid fucking mistake that was HIS FAULT in the first place! But how was she supposed to spin something like this that didn’t make her- _

_ Suddenly, a powerful, repetitive thumping noise sounded from outside the door, Taeko biting her hand to keep from screaming out. The door in the middle of the room shuddered and jiggled in place for a moment before a low growl sounded out and the heavy footsteps resumed. _ ** _“Oh, god, someone’s out there?! No, no- the other door. The other door!” _ ** _ Her mind screamed at her as she began desperately looking around for anywhere to hide. In a rare moment of luck that night, however, she spotted something better. _ ** _“That thing could probably block the door…!”_ **

_ Minutes passed. The thunderous footsteps walked right past the side door, fading out of earshot as they went down the hall, but she didn’t dare make a break for it. That choice was vindicated when the footsteps returned, now joined by a familiar but muffled pair of voices yelling. It wasn’t long before they were immediately outside the door, which just as before, shuddered and jolted in place as the doorstop held firm. “OPEN THE FUCK UP, GODDAMN DOOR!” Mondo roared from the other side, Taeko’s heart nearly stopping. That terror turned into bewilderment when Kaede’s voice joined in… only to turn blank when that pleading voice turned into a scream and suddenly fell silent. _

** _“... Did… did he just kill Kaede…?” _ ** _ She numbly thought to herself. On the one hand, that terrified her. If he killed someone simply for getting in the way, if he knew about her involvement, she was in even greater danger than she first thought. And, perhaps, a small part of her was sympathetic to the painfully naive if relatively harmless girl that just met a bitter end. But, on the other… this could be her opportunity. He was planning on killing Hifumi, who was now dead. Kaede is also dead, and he killed her. Ergo, who is the most likely to have killed them both? Even when Kaede spoke again, miraculously alive by the grace of whatever was watching, it didn’t matter. Only a few details had to change to account for that. Despite herself, she smiled. _

_ Celestia Ludenberg had a plan. _

***

Kaede listened without comment, letting Celeste speak from beginning to end without any of the small clarifications her classmates occasionally asked. At the end, she still remained quiet, conflicting thoughts and feelings struggling for dominance after all she’d learned.

“So, you weren’t aware of the parasol’s true purpose until the moment of the murder…” Kiyo said, his tone indeterminable.

Celeste nodded. “Yes. I truly thought it was nothing more than a nice accessory until then. I certainly hadn’t expected it to save my life… or, to lead to the end of it, for that matter.”

“... Then you really didn’t mean to kill Hifumi? All of this… it was because you were scared?” The words left Kaede’s mouth before she was even aware of the thought. Her voice sounded small, painted with a hopeful lilt that she couldn’t bring herself to feel.

Celeste stared at her for a long moment, looking away with a frown. “Please. There’s nothing I hate more than being pitied. Do not misunderstand; sooner or later, I would have killed someone here. In the end, I always intended to escape. I was simply forced to play my hand much earlier than I wanted.” She dismissed, and though Kaede was fairly certain she was telling the truth, she thought she heard a hint of resignation softening the cold edge of the statement.

A hellish giggle mocked them from above. “Puhuhu… it’s true what they say; in the end, two things are certain: death and taxes. Unless you’re a bear, then you get to skip the taxes and go straight to the death part! More specifically, the death of the dirty, no-good murderers ruining the harmony of my beloved students!” Monokuma merrily declared, his voice turning menacing as he flashed his razorsharp smile at them. 

Akamatsu’s stomach dropped. That could only mean... “No,” She whispered, before a sudden energy jolted into her. “No! You can’t!”

Monokuma tilted his head curiously. “Huuuh? Whannot? Pretty sure I already did it to her once. In fact, it’s as easy as pressing a button!”

Kaede grit her teeth. “Why would we stand by and let you kill someone?! Come on, guys!”

Despite her plea, not a soul stepped forward. Even Kaito and Gonta stood silently, offering sympathetic and guilty looks but not moving to back her up. She stared at them, dumbfounded and hurt. “Guys…? C-come on, why aren’t you doing anything?”

Monokuma tapped at his chin. “Hmm… I dunno, maybe because of these?” He said, and in an instant, a pair of turrets popped up from the floor behind her and pointed at the once-Ultimate Pianist, the pair of boys next to her letting out a shriek while she froze in place. “Besides, the way I remember it, you were the one that was all gung-ho about the execution last time! What, did you find the first one too _ breathtaking _? Ahahahaha!”

“Kaede!” Tojo shouted out fearfully.

Kaito paled, but his grit teeth and tightly clenched fist didn’t waver. “Don’t you dare, Monokuma!”

“She ain’t worth it, Kaede…!” Mondo growled, concern for her mixing with the dark bitterness for Celeste.

“He’s correct.”

Kaede blinked in surprise at the fourth voice, staring at disbelief at the source of it. “C-Celeste? What are you-”

“Did I not say I hate being pitied?” Ludenberg interrupted, folding her hands as she stepped away from her podium and began walking towards the blonde. “I have no use for it while I’m alive, and certainly won’t in a few moments. Besides… it would be a waste for such promise to die out over needless heroics.”

Kaede’s brow furrowed, confusion and sadness swelling in her chest. “I… don’t understand what you’re talking about. Why are you okay with this?”

Celeste came closer, now standing behind Kaede’s podium as she met her eyes. “My death is inevitable at this point. Those are the rules of this game, and I am not such a sore loser that I would try to break them,” She explained blandly, flicking at her hair, before a small, rueful smile played at her lips. “However, there is no reason for you to bow out of this game yet. Especially when you have the talent to get far in it. You are one of the few people to have ever out-bluffed me, Kaede. That is no small feat. In all honesty… you’ve impressed me. Your determination to win and the lengths you were willing to go to in the name of that is a talent few possess. You’re still a beginner, and too moral for your own good… but, with enough time, I sense you could become something great. So… do try to survive, would you? I would hate for a C-rank to die needlessly.”

“Celeste…” Kaede started, but trailed off, a thousand things that she wanted to say coming to her mind but none of them sounding right. Even now, she wasn’t sure how she should feel about the girl before her, her sense of justice demanding punishment for Hifumi’s death violently clashing with her wish to see everyone make it out alive. Even if they weren’t such in the traditional sense, she did think of Celeste as a friend… and now she was about to die. Realizing that, she finally found something to say. “... When you’re uncomfortable about something, you mess with your hair. That’s your tell, isn’t it?”

Celeste blinked, stunned for a moment, before an amused hum escaped her. “Case and point. Between noticing that and masking your tell, you’re already improving. Good. You would look ridiculous wearing sunglasses to a class trial.”

Despite everything, the words drew a small chuckle from Kaede. For a brief moment, it almost seemed pleasant… but the reality of the situation couldn’t be ignored, her smile fading away as she felt tears start to prick at her eyes. “... I’m so sorry, Celeste. I failed you, and Hifumi. I should have-”

“Stop.”

Akamatsu stared at her dumbly. “... What?”

“There are a thousand things any of us should have done, or could have done, or would have done. The reality, however, is that we didn’t, and that cannot be changed. That is simply the nature of the past,” Celeste mused, her voice as certain as Kaede had ever heard it. “There is nothing to be gained by thinking of what could have been. Doing so will only blind you to the present, and with that, the future. What matters is not what came before, but what could come after. _ That _...” She closed her eyes as she crossed her arms, and after a moment, slipped something out of her blazer. “Is what it truly means to never look back.”

Kaede looked at the offered pack of cards, her heart heavy with grief. It should never have come to this. She failed to protect her friends, _ again _, and that was the only reason she was being offered these. But… in a way, this was Celeste’s wish, wasn’t it? Her final words to someone she saw potential in; one last urging before the end… what right did she have to refuse? Carefully, as if they’d shatter like glass if she wasn’t cautious enough, she gently accepted the cards from the gambler, the small weight in her palm feeling so much heavier than it actually was. “... Thank you. And… goodbye, Celeste. I’ll miss you.”

Something sad flashed in those red eyes, but her small smile didn’t falter. “... You are the only one who will,” Celeste said quietly, and with that, she stepped away from Kaede. "... Regardless, it seems my time is here once again. Good luck to you all. Perhaps we’ll meet once again, some day... very well, Monokuma. I am prepared."

"Well, that's great, because I've prepared a very special punishment for Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler!" Monokuma barked out with a laugh. 

Even as she folded her hands tightly enough to hurt, Celeste refused to let her calm facade crack, hiding the fear in her eyes by closing them with a content smile. 

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got!” 

Dread crawled down Kaede’s spine, her breath caught in her throat as her tears began to overflow, blurring her vision of the girl that could have been her friend. The girl _ she _ sent to her death. No matter how much her mind screamed at her to move, to push Celeste out of the way, to do _ something _, she found herself frozen in place. Something choked and wet escaped her. “Celeste, I-”

** _“IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!”_ **

The chain flew down from above, and in an instant, Celeste was gone.

Behind her, the screens once more crackled to life, a hellishly high-pitched and slightly out of tune song playing as an animation played of Monokuma walking up to Celeste and dragging her along.

**CELESTIA LUDENBERG HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.**

**TIME FOR PUNISHMENT!**

The screens went black before bursting into brightness as a spotlight suddenly cut through the darkness, showing Celeste strapped by her arms and legs to a black wall with the number one written in white on it behind her. Another set of lights flicked on, followed by another, and continuing until it revealed that the Ultimate Gambler was a fixture of a giant roulette wheel, though with half the usual spaces. Fourteen of them were marked with cardboard cutouts of her other prisoners of the ship and a corresponding number, with one other slot featuring a sloppy pink X mark over its number instead, and two final green slots labeled as ‘LIFE’ and ‘LIFE + ESCAPE’ on opposite ends of the wheel, the latter almost directly across from Celeste’s space.

One more light flicked on to reveal a giant Monokuma leaning next to a black and red lever, the bear dressed in a green gambling visor and red vest with a devilish smirk. Behind him was a table similarly bearing pictures of the sixteen blackened fashioned in the style of a roulette betting board. Fifteen incredibly large monocoins were all stacked over Celeste’s portrait, apparently marking the universal bet of the class. Without further ado, Monokuma pulled the lever, and the giant wheel slowly began to spin.

** **

A small bead of sweat trailed down Celeste’s face, but her calm mask remained in place even as the lethargically moving wheel began to speed up. At first, it was hardly noticeable, only moving an inch or two a second. However, as the moments ticked by, it began to pick up more and more speed, a few inches per second becoming a few feet, and then a few yards, and only growing faster from there. 

Fear began creeping into Celeste’s expression as the air started blowing harshly against her, her hair drills blowing wildly in the artificial wind. It only worsened as the wheel sped up further. Soon, it was like she was in a hurricane, her drills blowing at practically a ninety-degree angle before suddenly blowing off entirely, the hairclips whipping away and revealing her natural bob cut. She couldn’t fully hide a wince, yet still her plastered smile held.

Soon, the wheel had become nothing but a blur, only the camera focused directly on Celeste able to provide a clear picture of what was happening. It was spinning fast enough that g-forces were starting to take effect, the gambler’s once flowing crinoline skirt crushed flat against her by the tightening pull of gravity. Her mask was beginning to slip, signs of discomfort peeking through the cracks as her features began to sink more and more.

Those signs of discomfort exploded into obvious agony as the speed became great enough that her earrings started to tug against her earlobes more and more until the thin metal managed to slice through completely. A strangled, almost silent scream hissed out of Celeste, her slashed ears bleeding profusely and eyes welling with pained tears as her skin seemed to take on an even more ghostly shade of white. The breaths she managed to steal in between her grunts and gasps of torment were becoming quicker and harsher, but it did little to stop the increasingly shallow amounts of air she could actually take in at a time. 

Suddenly, Monokuma waddled to the rim of the roulette wheel of doom holding a large white sphere in his paw and began spinning his wrist. After building up a fair bit of momentum, he rolled the ball into the spinning wheel from the opposite direction. The ball flew into it, spinning around the track nearly as quickly as the wheel was moving. It was dizzying to try to follow, but Ludenberg attempted as best she could despite being completely frozen in place by the sheer speed of her deathtrap. Her ruby eyes desperately tracked it as it spun around, her face turning bluer and bluer with each cycle.

After a few moments, the ball started to slow down, its revolutions becoming longer and longer each time until it finally fell into the ring. It bounced out of the first slot, skipping over a few rows until it finally fell into the ‘LIFE + ESCAPE’ slot. Celeste’s eyes went wide, a faint glimmer of hope shining in them as the wheel finally began to slow down…

Only for Monokuma to slam his paw down on the table with a thunderous crash. The ball launched from the force of the impact, soaring through the air until it crashed down into Celeste’s slot, reducing the Ultimate Gambler to a bloody splatter with a sickening ** _crunch_ **.

After a few moments, the wheel finally came to a full stop. Monokuma reached into his vest, pulling out a small piece of paper of some sorts before picking up the ball that had killed Celeste and turning away from the camera. A second passed before he turned back with a monstrous grin, proudly presenting a queen of hearts… with the dark, unshapely red smear that had once been the Queen of Liars in the middle. With that, the screens fell black once more.

***

Kaede felt sick. Bile burned at the back of her throat, ice water rushing through her veins while an overwhelming ringing screamed in her ears. Her eyes ached from crying, but the tears wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t believe it. Celeste was dead. Not just dead, but obliterated, hardly a trace of her left. Not even a day prior, the two had been bonding over cards, and now…

Now she was gone.

Monokuma cackled uproariously, rolling with laughter in his throne. “AHAHAHAHAHA! They say the house always wins, and it’s true! I haven’t had that much fun in a while!”

“I… I… I d-don’t believe it…” Teruteru muttered under his breath, abject horror warping his features as he violently trembled in place. “Sh-sh-she… she’s…!” 

Leon wasn’t fairing much better, both hands tightly pressing against his skull for dear life. “Wh-what the fuck?! WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Why… why does this keep happening…?” Tsumugi choked out, curling into herself as tears freely fell down her face.

For a long moment, no one dared to speak. Gonta and Mikan openly sobbed, their bawling the only noise in the courtroom. Chiaki had raised her hoodie, looking down at the ground wordlessly. Mondo’s face was bathed in shadow, the man as still as a statue. Kaede could feel herself shaking, but it wasn’t only in fear. Through her terror and shock, she felt something else boiling below the surface. Something bitter and dark that felt like tar under her skin. “... Why…?” She murmured, and that was all it took to open the flood gates. “Why?! Why did we let that happen?! We just stood here and… and watched! We watched her die! Why didn’t we even try to stop it?!”

Kaito flinched guiltily, the man unable to meet her eyes for more than a second. “K-Kaede…”

It only made her more furious, her teeth aching from how hard she was clenching them. “Tell me! You tried **so** hard to save me, Kaito, but you didn’t even say a word for her! What’s wrong with you?! Why didn’t-?!”

“Because it would be pointless,” A cold, blunt voice cut through her words, silencing Kaede in an instant. She stared at Peko uncomprehendingly. The Ultimate Swordswoman was undeniably tense, her jaw tight and fists clenched in her folded arms, but her voice was as unwavering as her sharp gaze. “You saw what happened when you merely suggested resisting Monokuma. If you or anyone else tried to save her, the only thing you would accomplish is more unneeded death. Even Celeste said as much. As much as it might weigh on you… there is nothing that could have changed this.”

Kirumi bowed her head deeply, offering the blonde a sympathetic gaze. “Miss Pekoyama is correct, Kaede. As horrific as it is... it’s truly inescapable.”

“Not to mention that we would have met such an end instead had her plan succeeded…” Gundham pointed out with a slight scowl.

Gonta looked down with a shameful grimace. “Even so… Gonta wish he could help. But… Gonta not want friends to get hurt trying to save people. Gonta not think that help anyone.”

Gradually, Kaede’s resolve crumbled, the ex-pianist grimacing as a surge of guilt hit her and she squeezed her elbow as tightly as she could. “I… I know. I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, any of you. It’s…” She closed her eyes with a shaky breath, misery and lingering disbelief swirling inside her with the awful, directionless anger. Thankfully, a deserving target quickly came to mind, her eyes opening into a hateful glare at their still-celebrating headmaster. “It’s ** _his _ **fault.”

The bear looked at her quizzically. “Huh? My fault? But I’m not the one that stabbed Mister Yamada to death. I didn’t make Miss Ludenberg do it, either. That was all on her own. I’m just the impartial judge and executioner trying to protect you guys from the menaces of society… well, the repeat offenders, anyway.”

Sakura’s knuckles cracked loudly as her fists tightened, glaring at him fiercely. “Don’t pretend any of these murders would have happened without your twisted games, Monokuma. Hifumi and Celeste’s blood is on your hands.”

Monokuma shrugged uncaringly. “Eh, maybe not… buuuuut, if we want to play semantics about who killed who, then I would like to remind you that all executions are determined through **popular vote**. If I’m responsible for them dying for putting them in the situation, then-”

“Monokuma, are we done?” Chiaki demanded bluntly, her face weary and expectant.

The monochrome monster sighed, shaking his head. “Kids these days, always so eager to move on to the next big thing… fine. I just have one last thing for all of you,” He announced, and a moment later, a small _ plink _sound came from her podium screen before it printed off a piece of paper, Kaede warily taking it to give a closer look. “Tada!”

Akamatsu read over the paper, feeling her brow furrow more with each moment she spent reading it. “This is… a report card? What?”

He grinned widely at her. “Correct! This handy little thing is a summation of how well you did during the class trial! The better the grade on there, the more of a reward you get!”

Before anyone could ask what he meant, he snapped his nonexistent fingers and suddenly a cable holding a decently sized pouch carrying a tag with her name on it dropped down in front of her. Hesitantly, Kaede held out her hand and let it drop into her palm over the report card with a small metallic _ clink _ . She pulled the drawstrings open to find dozens upon dozens of monocoins inside. “... _ Reward _ …?” She hissed hatefully, crumpling the paper as she clenched her hand into a fist around the bag and violently lobbing it against the floor behind her. The coins scattered in a thunderous crash of clattering metal, her glare as bitter and heated as hell itself as she spat out. "I don't want your _ blood money _."

Monokuma shook his head. "Nonsense! That's not blood money! Trust me, I tried making these things just out of the iron in people's blood, and it just isn't worth it. I'd have to kill seven people just to make one coin! So rest assured, these coins are one-hundred percent not blood!"

"You took that way too literally..." Tsumugi mumbled under her breath.

Monokuma shrugged once again. “Well, either way, I’m not going to force you to take them, so do as you will. I officially declare this class trial adjourned!” He announced, and with that, disappeared from the courtroom. 

The gathered blackened simply stood there for a long moment, no one quite willing to be the first to step away. Finally, Mondo wordlessly stepped away from the podium, shoving his hands in his coat and marching towards the elevator without so much as a glance at anyone else. Gundham followed suit soon after, though much less aggressively than the biker. Peko looked around the court for a long moment, her eyes lingering on Kaede a touch longer than anyone else, before giving a small nod and moving to join the pair. 

Silently, the others began to split away as well. Some met her eyes or cast quick, conflicted glances at her as they shuffled past while others ignored her entirely, but none said a word. Even Kaito was at a loss, the astronaut looking at her for a long moment with a small grimace, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t, before ultimately frowning and looking away before joining the rest of the group. A part of her was thankful for that. Even if she’d apologized, it was clear just how much her words hurt him. She felt guilty just looking at him. She’d have to say something more personal to him, but… she needed a moment.

Kirumi somewhat reluctantly approached her, the maid visibly unsettled, but a certain resolve showed through her lone visible eye. “Kaede… I understand if you don’t wish to speak about this right now, and I certainly won’t force you to. But…”

“... Y-yeah. It’s… a lot, but… I promise I’ll tell you everything soon. Just… not now.” Kaede placated, not quite able to meet Tojo’s gaze with the gnawing sense of shame building in her. 

Kirumi bowed, giving a small curtsy. “As you wish. But… please, know that no one holds you responsible for this. You shouldn’t, either.” Tojo attempted to console. Kaede didn’t respond, merely dropping her gaze lower. After a moment of hesitation, the servant finally left, the soft clacking of her heels slowly fading away.

Kaede let out a small sigh. She wasn’t ready to go back yet, but nearly everyone was waiting there at this point. The only ones left were her and… “... Chiaki...? Is there something you need?”

Nanami was staring at her intently, something unrecognizable in her eyes. “... Even after everything, you still wanted to save her.”

The ex-pianist thinned her lips, crossing her arms uncomfortably. “Nobody deserves something like that, no matter what. Look, it might seem stupid, but-”

Chiaki shook her head. “No, it’s not. I just…” She paused for a moment and shook her head. “... Nevermind. We should get back to the others. Staying here won’t help at all… I think.”

Kaede ran her thumb over the tin of cards, closing her eyes as she gently squeezed the cool metal. “... You’re right. Come on. Let’s just go.”

With that, the pair met up with the surviving members of the group and finally left the courtroom, the dull hum of the elevator serving as the only funeral march the Ultimate Gambler would receive.

***

When they left the boiler room, the remaining students quietly returned to the dorms, an unspoken but unanimous agreement leading them back to their rooms. Despite not having anything since the night prior, no one could stomach a meal after what they’d seen, leaving no reason to be anywhere else. It wasn’t unlike the first night they were there; a suffocating uncertainty hovering over them all like a thick fog. Hours passed without change, the nighttime announcement coming and going without a care from anyone.

Kaede laid on her bed feeling almost completely numb as she stared unseeingly at the ceiling. It didn’t feel real. None of it did. Celeste was dead. Hifumi, too. Despite seeing both of their bodies, and despite fighting with all her might to prove the gambler killed him, something about it couldn’t click anymore. Her eyes still ached from how hard she cried, but they’d long since run dry, leaving the girl feeling hollow as nothingness replaced her grief. A part of her idly wondered if that was how Shuichi and the others felt after her execution, and a different part hated herself even more for putting them through this hell.

She failed. _ Again _ . No matter what Celeste said, there was no other way to look at it. Once again, her arrogance led to the start of the killing game, and now two more of her friends were gone forever. That knowledge was eating away at her, a constant, low ache in her heart, yet she couldn’t bring herself to do anything but sit there and let it happen. What else _ could _ she do? It’s not like she could face any of the others right now after all her lies were exposed one by one. No way in _ hell _was she going back to her lab. Music might have helped if she had anything besides piano records for her gramophone, but even if she did, she doubted it could distract her from her thoughts. 

Kaede raised her hand, staring at Celeste’s pack of cards with a sense of confliction. In truth, she didn’t fully know why she was still holding onto it. She’d had plenty of time to set it down somewhere in her room, yet in her haze of thought, it hadn’t occurred to her to do so. The blank and lifeless eyes of the Queen of Hearts stared back at her, lacking any of the regality the Ultimate Gambler had fondly described seeing in it. A hint of sorrow slipped through the emptiness. With a tiny, inaudible sigh, she sat up, her gaze still locked on the tin as she debated what to do with it. Looking at it just made everything hurt more, yet the idea of hiding it away in a drawer felt wrong. Those cards were all that was left of her. Putting them out of sight and out of mind… that was as good as forgetting her wish.

Kaede felt her resolve harden. “... You said never to look back, Celeste… but I can’t do that. I can’t leave the past behind. I can’t just forget you, or Rantaro, or anyone else that’s gone,” She whispered, her voice soft with regret. Standing up, she gently placed the cards on her nightstand, gazing down at them as if delivering a eulogy. “But… you were right about one thing. I can’t give up on the future because of it. Shuichi never stopped searching for the truth, and neither can I. No matter what happens, I won’t stop looking towards the future. I promise.”

Silence followed her words. Nothing had changed, really, but the air somehow felt a little less stifling than before. It was impossible, but… she hoped the other woman could hear her, somehow. It was with that faint hope that she bowed her head and turned back to bed. There was basically no chance of getting sleep that night, but hopefully her final farewell would at least leave her less consumed by the sickening numbness. _ “I have a lot to explain to everyone tomorrow. I should probably at least try to-” _

_ Bingbing! Bingbing! _

Kaede paused, turning and looking at the door curiously. _ “Huh? Someone’s out there this late? But who…” _ Her mind flashed to Kaito on the first night they were there, his grin shining like a full moon despite the darkness that enveloped them both, and she winced. _ “... He probably wants to talk things out, or train. Or both, I guess. I… don’t want to do this, but I _ ** _do _ ** _ owe him an apology… I can at least give him that much.” _Akamatsu decided as she started towards the door. As her fingers wrapped around the handle, an icy dread trickled down her spine. What if it wasn’t Kaito? What if someone wanted to…

She opened the door before she could psyche herself out of it, looking up where she expected to see Kaito’s face only to be met with nothing but air. She blinked in confusion before glancing down, her curiosity rising as she saw who it was. “Chiaki? Uh… hi.”

The Ultimate Gamer looked oddly serious, the same calculating glint in her eye she’d worn throughout the trial residing in her gaze now. “Hey hey, Kaede. I know it’s a bit late, but… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Kaede stifled a sigh, trying her hardest to keep from looking away. “... I get it. I should have been a lot more honest with you guys, and I won’t make any excuses for it, but I promise I’ll explain everything tomorrow, okay?”

To her surprise, Nanami shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s something else… but I think it’s really important we talk about it. Can I come inside?”

The blonde felt a twinge of wariness starting to come over her. “... What is it?” She asked, the suspicious edge to her words coming across sharper than she intended.

“... It’s about the motive tapes. After what happened with Hifumi and Celeste, and Mondo… there’s something I wanted to ask you,” Chiaki admitted after a moment, her brow furrowed slightly with a frown. “Please. I get wanting to be careful after everything, but what I have to tell you can’t wait until morning… I think.”

Kaede gazed at her in deep thought for several long moments. Her initial reaction was to say no as nicely as she could and close the door in case this was some kind of trap. Even as small as she was, Chiaki could easily kill her if she caught Kaede by surprise with a weapon. Yet, at the same time, she felt disgusted by even suspecting that possibility. Chiaki had been the first one to refuse the killing game, and tried to help as much as she could during the trial. There was no reason to suspect her… but… that’s what her friends thought about her, too…

_ “Stop that. Not everyone’s like you. She isn’t planning anything. Just… keep an eye on her,” _She scolded herself, finally arriving at a compromise as she slowly opened the door for the other girl. “... Okay,” She agreed, stepping aside so Nanami could enter. Once she walked in and the door closed, an awkward moment of silence reigned over them, not helping Kaede’s silent worries. “... So… what’s on your mind?”

“... Kaede… I think you’re different from a lot of the people here. No matter what, you’ve kept trying to keep everyone safe. Even Celeste. You might have lied a few times… but, it was always to try to help someone else. I’m not sure many people would be willing to do that. Honestly… it just doesn’t make sense that you’re here,” Chiaki said, her lips in a firm frown. She looked directly into Kaede’s eyes with a dire seriousness that shook her to the core. “So… I need you to tell me exactly what happened with Rantaro.”

Kaede flinched as if Chiaki punched her. “R-Rantaro… Chiaki, why are you asking about this now?”

Chiaki’s grave look didn’t falter. “You never got to explain why you killed him. Monokuma cut you off before you could say more than his name. I need you to tell me what happened… because I need to know if I can trust you with something”

Kaede froze. She opened her mouth, but no words would come, the girl caught completely off guard. _ “Trust me with something…? Then… I was right. Chiaki’s definitely hiding something. But… what? And how does my murder tie into it?” _

A moment passed, and then another. Uncertainty churned inside her, her slight distrust of Nanami clashing with her desire to find out whatever it was she’d been keeping secret. There was also the matter of the fact that she more or less owed them the truth if they asked. She’d been expecting them to follow her, and after everything else she’d concealed, surely that was the least she could tell them, right? At long last, she found her answer. “... Okay. I’ll tell you the truth of what happened. Even if it sounds like a lie, I promise it’s true, okay?” She warned. Chiaki nodded instantly.

With that, she explained everything. From the moment the first motive was dropped to Shuichi confiding his mastermind theory in her to realizing her crime and making the plan to out the mastermind during the trial, Kaede told Chiaki the full truth of the death of Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Gamer listening intently from start to end. “... Then, the next thing I remember is waking up here and meeting you and Mondo.” She finished, a weariness in her voice that she felt in her soul.

Chiaki stared at her wordlessly for a short eternity before slowly nodding her head. “... I see.”

Akamatsu thinned her lips, looking to the floor. “... Do you believe me?”

“I do… I can tell you’re being honest with me,” Nanami smiled slightly for a moment before it returned to a thin line. “Which is why I’m going to trust you. I have something that you need to see, but it has to stay between the two of us for now. Okay?”

A sudden sense of apprehension sparked inside Kaede, but she nodded all the same. “... Alright. I’ll trust you, too. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” She assured, and unlike so many things she’d said lately, she meant every word of it. Despite her growing worry, there was a certain feeling of excitement as she said, “I’m ready when you are.”

Chiaki nodded and reached into her backpack to reveal her monopod a moment later. She held it in offering to Kaede, who accepted it with a slight look. She took a deep breath before turning it on to find…

Her motive video.

Kaede stared at the screen for a long moment, turned it off, and held it out to the other girl. “... I don’t need to see this.”

“Kaede-”

“I already know what I did, Chiaki.” She interrupted coldly, a bitter feeling slinking up her spine.

Chiaki refused to relent, however. “You don’t understand. It’s hard to explain, but… you’ll know when you watch it. _ Please _, Kaede.”

A beat passed. “... If this is a joke, Chiaki, you have a really screwed up sense of humor…” Kaede warned, her patience already worn thin as she turned on the video and Monokuma’s grating voice blasted through the speakers.

** _“Hello hello hello, viewers, and welcome to Ultimate Crimes, the show where we reveal to the public all of the horrible things that turned some of our most promising students into heartless killers! We’ve got a special one today, ladies and gentlemen, so grab a snack and a seat! All ready? Good! Then brace yourself, because the murderer we’ll be covering today will be… Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist!”_ **

Kaede sent a wary glance towards Chiaki, but the smaller girl’s expression hadn’t changed. Curling her lips, she looked back down to the screen.

** _“A prodigy practically from infancy, Kaede has always had tremendous talent when it comes to the piano. What she lacked in friends, she made up for in sheer skill, learning how to play countless pieces from memory and even becoming a composer in her own right by the time she was a teenager. She’s played for thousands of people, including royalty, all in the name of seeing their happy faces. With such undeniable talent and passion for music and considerable connections, Kaede Akamatsu could have revolutionized the field of music forever, going down with the likes of Motzart and Bach. So, knowing that, what possibly could have happened to make her throw her entire future down the drain? Well…_ **

** _For Kaede, it all started with the game itself. Upon the announcement of her killing game, Kaede boldly declared that no one would commit murder. She quickly asserted herself as the leader of the group, and when she thought she found a way out, she forced them all to suffer through it dozens of times, even when they begged her to stop! Talk about a drill sergeant, am I right?”_ **

Akamatsu’s hands clenched as she glared at the screen. “Chiaki-”

“Just keep watching.” Chiaki instructed, though to her credit, she didn’t look particularly convinced by the video either. As much as she wanted to just shut it off, Kaede begrudgingly followed her request.

** _“Once they finally went on strike, she was forced to give up, but that wasn’t the end of it. A little while later, yours truly decided to raise her group’s crushed spirits with a bit of hope: the first killing of the game would _ ** ** _not _ ** ** _go to trial. All the culprit had to do was kill someone and fess up! After all she’d done to break down their spirits, it only seemed fair I give them a free shot at escape!_ **

** _Now then, this next part is important to understand everything. Once my generous offer was introduced and so rudely rejected by them -publicly, anyways- another student approached our dear protagonist. Mister Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, had a plan to end the killing game early. He got the idea in his head that one of his classmates was secretly controlling me, and wanted to arrest them and force the game to end. Crazy, right? As if anyone could be a better Monokuma than Monokuma himself!_ **

** _Anyways, what Sherlock wasn’t counting on was that Watson wasn’t as innocent as she looked. When she heard about his plan, she got the idea to alter his trap so that she could use it to kill someone! She sweet talked him into letting her set up the cameras he wanted to use to expose this so-called mastermind and rigged them to lure whoever was unlucky enough to be nearby right into the path of a deathtrap she arranged without him noticing. That’s right, dear viewer; little miss class president was the first willing to bust open her so-called friends’ skulls! With just the slightest bit of pressure, she cracked like a walnut! In fact, she was so eager that she passed up on the perk and took her shot at the trial, putting all her beloved classmates on the chopping block!”_ **

_ “‘Sweet talked him’?! ‘Slightest bit of pressure’?! I _ ** _intentionally_ ** _ put them in danger?! Are you freaking kidding me?!” _ Kaede seethed, gritting her teeth hard enough to hurt. She made no excuses for what she did, but the accusations made her blood boil. Chiaki’s look silently carried the same message as earlier, but the blonde’s willingness to abide it was rapidly running out.

** _“So then, once Mister Detective’s plan went into motion, hers did too. He had a receiver that told him when the supposed secret entrance was opening, and once he was scurrying down the stairs, she threw her shot put ball into the trap…”_ **

Her eyes narrowed as the camera cut to her impromptu ramp, all but shoving the screen back to Chiaki. “No. I’m not watching this, Chiaki. I-”

Nanami forced the screen back, genuine concern on her face. “No, Kaede, you have to. This is what I need you to see.”

“To see him die?! No, Chiaki! I already know it’s my fault he’s dead!” Kaede barked furiously, old regrets and self-loathing bubbling back to the surface. She pushed it back once again. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but-”

“PLEASE!” Chiaki cried out desperately, stunning the blonde into silence. She stared into her pleading pink eyes in total disbelief. For the first time since they’d met, Nanami’s calm demeanor broke, a pleading but unyielding glint to her gaze that gave her pause. “Just… trust me.” She instructed. Kaede was too taken aback to resist as she pushed the pad back into her hands, watching as the ball approached the precipice of the trap. It was hypnotic; she wanted nothing more than to clamp her eyes shut or throw the damn thing away, but her eyes were fixed to the screen, preparing to see the death she caused first hand. At last, the ball rolled off the bookcase, drawing a sharp gasp from the guilt-stricken musician as it fell towards Rantaro…

… and harmlessly fell to the ground with a dull ** _thunk_ **.

** _“Huuuuh? What’s this?”_ **

The camera zoomed in on the harmless shot put, Rantaro’s shadow turning to look at it before a cringe-inducing metallic ** _clunk _ **rang out, the Ultimate Mystery’s corpse falling lifelessly into frame. Moments later, a pixelated hand grabbed the unstained shotput and traded it with a bloodstained one.

** _“The shot missed? But… that means that Kaede, the terrible, heartless murderer that betrayed all her friends… was only a terrible, heartless ATTEMPTED murderer that betrayed all her friends! And if that’s true, then who really killed Rantaro Amami and framed her? And even if she did fail, what does it say about her for setting him up to die like that?_ **

** _Tell me, viewers… does that sound like the kind of person who’s worthy of trust?”_ **

****

The screen flicked off, leaving Kaede staring at her own stunned reflection. “... What…?”

*******

** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooh boy. There's a lot to go into with this one. First, credits to folks for their art:
> 
> The Kaede closing argument spritework was done by @MuuMuuMolly on Twitter, who generously allows it for any fandom use with crediting!
> 
> The ASTOUNDING Celeste Argument Armament artwork was done by the incredible u/mochi_I on Reddit! Once again, thank you SO MUCH for this incredible piece! BTW, bonus points to the first person to get the reference in her design.
> 
> The execution title card was done by our very own CSpratt, who did an awesome job of mimicking the in game style!
> 
> Shoutouts to Verl and u/singing_whistle for correctly predicting both the culprit and murder weapon! Also u/spikey-sike, who correctly identified that the title of Chapter One is a very overt hint to the culprit.
> 
> Mass Panic Debates are a pain in the dick to format. Credit to me. Jokes aside....
> 
> Yeah. Celeste is the first culprit. The rival dies in the first chapter. Why? Well... two reasons. First, it is tradition in DR that at least one seemingly important character dies in the first chapter. We had the assistant (Sayaka), the returning character (Byakuya/Imposter), the Ultimate ??? (Rantaro) and even the protagonist (Kaede) so far. Really, the only role yet to fall to this trope is the rival. Secondly, we felt it was the most logical way to start the story given this motive. Celeste fucked with a lot of people over the course of THH, so when the motive revolves around people's past crimes, it felt insane not to have that come back to bite her somehow. However, it's for that reason that we tried to go out of our way to make Celeste important here. Her dynamic with Kaede has been a central focus because of the fact that it otherwise wouldn't have been able to be explored. We totally understand if people are disappointed by this reveal, but it was the direction we felt was best for the story, and hope you will continue to read and enjoy our work going forward.
> 
> As for the motive video... puhuhuhuhu! ;D
> 
> EDIT: Thank you all so much for 300 KUDOS! That is absolutely incredible! You guys are the absolute best, and we thank you all for your wonderful comments, kudos, and taking the time out of your day to read this! 
> 
> -MrCynical


	18. Initium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki Nanami's favorite console of the fifth generation gets a B from me.
> 
> -MrCynical

He was never the sort to listen to rumors.

Gossip and hearsay had no place in his line of work. Any truth such whispers might have had was inevitably buried under so much conjecture and misinterpretation that trying to unravel it was almost always more trouble than it was worth, so he often disregarded the more blatantly outlandish ideas going around on the street to focus on what was more relevant and likely to be at least accurate enough to form a base from.

The rumors of a new killing game were very firmly in the former.

It was rather obvious why that couldn’t be the case, at least on the surface. For all their vileness and evil, the killing games were, above all else, spectacles. If someone was running such a game, they went out of their way to make sure everyone knew about it in one way or another. They thrived off of the people seeing the horrors of their twisted masterpieces. That had been true from the first game to the last.

So, when he started hearing rumblings of a new game in the works, he didn’t pay it much mind. Reports of supposed killing games were as common as UFO sightings these days, and just as popular among conspiracy theorists and wannabe investigators. Some started such rumors because they wanted attention or thought it would be funny. Others genuinely believed it and thought they were trying to save lives. The worst were always the ones that did so because they _ enjoyed _the games. Those people always revolted him in a way few things could anymore.

In the end, it didn’t really matter what the reasoning was. Any time a report like that was made, it was the responsibility of his department to investigate the veracity of the claims and act accordingly. His peers were well aware of his thoughts on the matter, so they tended to volunteer themselves before anything like that could cross his desk. He appreciated it, but even that couldn’t prevent the weariness he felt whenever he’d hear them discussing their cases in the halls. Still, it was their job and honestly an important one at that, so he couldn’t particularly blame them for it. They at least had the decency to change the topic if they noticed him walking past.

That courteousness was part of the reason why the file he found in his office three days prior was so peculiar. They knew better than to run anything even tangentially related to the killing games by him, and a folder describing exactly that sat at the top of his caseload that morning. At first, he’d thought it was simply a mistake and was going to pass it off to someone else, but some part of his intuition nagged him to take a look at it first. It was ridiculous even by most hoaxes’ standards, claiming that it was happening on a cruise ship of all places. When he saw the list of the ones supposedly involved, he nearly threw the thing in the trash outright. He couldn’t believe that someone had actually bothered coming up with such drivel, let alone actually taking a report on it and presenting it to investigators. If it was supposed to be a joke, it was a horribly unfunny one.

It was just as he was going to file the report as an obvious fake when something he hadn’t seen slipped out of the dossier. A small note no bigger than a calling card stood in sharp contrast with the generic, uniform pages of the report, bearing only three words written in red ink: 

**Blackened Skies**

**-Janus**

His brow furrowed at the sight, repeating the words under his breath in confusion. A quick examination revealed the card was as simple as it appeared, with no contact information or anything of note to be found anywhere on it besides those three words. It shouldn’t have meant anything; he didn’t recognize what it was talking about, and the rest of the file already seemed like some sort of prank. It was probably just meant to confuse him, which it was certainly exceeding at… and yet, seeing it gave him enough pause that he slowly moved to set the file down in front of him and start reading over it again.

Inevitably, his real work took priority, but he still couldn’t bring himself to just mark it as a hoax and move on. That was what the others advised him to do. Not one of them said yes when he asked if any of them recognized it, not even the intern he’d assumed delivered it. It was probably just a bad joke no one wanted to own up to. The best thing he could do was ignore the thing… yet, no matter how many times he said he would, the file never left the corner of his eye. Every time he swore to himself he’d get rid of it, he found himself pouring over the information again. Three days later, it was still on his desk, the man blankly staring down at the profiles of the contestants. It was foolish. He knew that. There’s no way something as ridiculous as what the file described was true. Yet…

“... Are you still looking at that?”

He nearly jumped at the sudden voice, looking up to see his friend’s stern gaze. “Ah… yeah,” He confessed lamely, feeling a touch embarrassed that she’d caught him off guard. Her shift went on longer than his, so she shouldn’t have been there yet… unless… a quick glance at the clock proved he was almost thirty minutes past the end of his shift. He shook his head with a sigh. “Sorry, I guess I lost track of time. It’s just… strange. I can’t help thinking about it.”

Her gaze dropped down for a moment, glancing over the smiling photographs of people that were long since gone. Something undeterminable flickered in her eyes for a moment before they turned cold, meeting his once again. “... Whatever. I’m picking dinner up on the way back. Are you coming along?”

The man nodded, mentally kicking himself for how oblivious he’d been as he closed the folder. “Sounds good to me. Just give me a minute to wrap up here and we’ll get going.”

Her lips thinned, curling slightly in disapproval, but when she opened her mouth, no scolding came forth. Her intense gaze gradually softened to something almost sympathetic before she simply gave a small nod. “Alright. If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m leaving without you.” She warned, and with that, silently left the room. He stifled another sigh as he took the folder and put it in one of the desk’s drawers, debating whether or not he should ever bother taking it back out.

_ “... This shouldn’t be bothering me so much. It’s impossible. I should just get this over with already…” _He told himself yet again. Despite knowing full well he’d just back out at the last second like he’d been doing for three days straight, he logged into his computer, preparing to submit the report that would mark it as a dud and finally let him drop the case from his workload. His finger hovered uncertainly above the mouse, held in place by something he couldn’t identify. A beat passed, followed by another, and finally, he gave up, leaning back in his chair in frustration. “Come on...” He admonishingly whispered to himself.

He couldn’t keep doing this. It didn’t make sense, and it certainly wasn’t healthy to obsess over it. Getting distracted by something like that could put real people in danger. He’d be damned if someone got hurt because he was too lost in thought to help them. He could be out there solving legitimate cases, finding real clues to prove...

To prove the truth.

The man forced himself forward, determined to finally put the thing behind him. His instincts might not have allowed him to dismiss it outright despite everything, but proof was the one thing that spoke louder than logic. If he could prove to himself that it was a fake beyond a shadow of a doubt, he could move on. With that in mind, he logged into the database. His security clearance gave him access to practically anything the organization had records of. If something existed, it would be there. He already knew the case files of the so-called ‘blackened’ better than almost anyone, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. Instead, he entered a simple pair of words that had haunted him for the better part of a week.

**Search for: Blackened Skies**

He pressed enter, waiting as the system scanned through the archives for any matches. That was his plan. Once it came back without any matches for anything of the sort, he would finally be able to convince himself to move on. Tomorrow could carry on like any other day, and-

** _ACCESS DENIED_ **

The man blinked in surprise, staring at the angry red letters in disbelief. “... What?” He murmured, retyping the phrase and hitting enter once again. It could have just been an error or-

** _ACCESS DENIED_ **

“...”

He sat there for a long moment, unreadable thoughts circling in his head. Slowly, he erased his previous entry and put in something new.

**Search for: Despair of the Seas**

**…**

** _ACCESS DENIED_ **

****"..."

**Search for: Janus**

**...**

**...**

_ **ACCESS DENIED** _

Something cold began settling over his shoulders, a familiar sensation from the worst times of his life. That… didn’t make sense. If there was nothing in the archives that matched, it would simply display no results. The system couldn’t display information that didn’t exist, after all. The only reason a screen like that would appear…

… was if he was trying to access files above his clearance.

His eyes widened with realization, slowly narrowing as the implications set in. Someone was trying to hide something, and someone else was trying to give him a tip. That only raised more questions, but one thing was for certain.

He would find the truth of this case.

***

_ Incoming Communication Request _

_ >Accept< Deny _

R29vZCBldmVuaW5nLCBEb2N0b3Iu

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_ Communication Terminated _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QmV0IHlhIGRpZG4ndCBleHBlY3Qgc29tZXRoaW5nIHNvIGVhcmx5LCBodWg/ICBDb25zaWRlciB0aGlzIGEgbGl0dGxlIGJvbnVzIGNoYXB0ZXI7IHlvdXIgZmlyc3QgcmVhbCBnbGltcHNlIGF0IHdoYXQgZXhhY3RseSBpcyBnb2luZyBvbiBvdXRzaWRlIG9mIHRoZSBraWxsaW5nIGdhbWUsIGFzc3VtaW5nIHlvdSBjYW4gZGVjb2RlIGl0LiAgV2VsY29tZSB0byBCbGFja2VuZWQgU2tpZXMsIHRoZSBzdG9yeSB0aGF0IG1ha2VzIHlvdSB3b3JrIGZvciB5b3VyIGJhY2tzdG9yeS4= 
> 
> -CSpratt


	19. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of the first trial, Kaede is confronted with regrets old and new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Yes! I'm through! Okay, I have to make this quick. Hey! Sorry for the delay in chapters. Cyni was holding me and the story hostage until he was officially recognized as the Ultimate Fanfic Creator by Hope's Peak. Telling him it wasn't real just made it worse, but I managed to get away long enough to get this pos-
> 
> ... Ahem. Sorry, folks, someone seemed to sneak in here, but rest assured, they're being punished severely. That is why I have elected to post this chapter totally of my own free will and not because CSpratt managed to upload it before I was given an Ultimate status. Hm. Yes.
> 
> -C̶S̶p̶r̶a̶t̶t̶ MrCynical

…

. . .

. . .

There were no words. Kaede stared unseeingly at the screen, her mind blank. She felt… nothing. A complete sense of numbness settled over her entire body. Some vague emotions seemed to be swirling inside her, but it was like water deep below a frozen lake, trapped beneath a hard, mercilessly unfeeling that refused to let anything reach the surface. 

The familiar feeling of numb disbelief was the only thing she could identify. For the third time in less than a day, reality ceased to exist around her, replaced entirely by what could only be described as a dream. A horrible, sickeningly twisted dream, not by virtue of being nightmarish, but by being such a cruelly tantalizing impossibility. In fact… a dream was a wrong way to describe it. At least dreams felt real in the moment; had some sort of anchoring to the real world. This…

This was fiction.

Kaede nearly lept out of her skin as a small hand lightly grasped her arm, swirling around at a breakneck speed to meet Chiaki’s deeply worried gaze. Her pink eyes widened slightly, taken aback by the blonde’s abrupt reaction, but the concern in them didn’t falter. “... Kaede?” She asked, her voice soft but tinged with wariness. Akamatsu couldn’t bring herself to say anything, still in shock from what she’d seen. Nanami’s brow furrowed further, but she didn’t give up. “... I know it’s a lot to take in… but do you see why this was so important?”

The musician remained silent. Gradually, her emotions started to return to her like slowly thawing ice, but she still felt detached from reality itself. As if she were watching herself through a TV instead of actually experiencing it first hand. Chiaki frowned slightly, but she didn’t look away from the other girl, her expression as dire as it had been from the start. “... Kaede, you didn’t kill Rantaro. You’re innocent.”

“... _ No _.”

The Ultimate Gamer stared at her uncomprehendingly. “... What?”

Kaede held the monopad out to Nanami, a smothering feeling of tiredness slightly softening the familiar bitter sting of sorrow and self-hatred aching in her heart. “Chiaki… please, don’t. I know you’re just trying to help, but… stop. For my sake.”

Chiaki gently pushed it back, visibly confused. “But the video-”

“It’s wrong,” Kaede bluntly refused, her voice hard and unwavering with absolute certainty. “I don’t know why it showed that, but it’s wrong. I’m definitely the one who killed Rantaro. Nothing else makes sense.”

That only seemed to encourage the pink-haired Ultimate further, her lips thinning as a challenging look flashed in her eyes. “You sound so certain of that… but is it really the truth?”

“_ Yes _ ,” Kaede hissed out more harshly than she intended. She felt a touch guilty about it, but that was insignificant compared to her growing disgust and frustration. Today had already been hellish enough with the deaths of her friends and her humiliating weakness being mockingly paraded in front of everyone still hanging heavily over her mind. To have this _ sickening _false hope presented to her, taunting her with a promise of innocence she knew damn well was forever lost to her… a firestorm of emotions raged inside her, and not one of them was anything close to whatever she was sure Chiaki wanted her to feel seeing that tape. She pushed the tablet back once again, a touch more forcefully this time. “Look… I’m sorry, but whatever kind of person you think I am, I’m not. I’m a horrible murderer.”

“But what if you weren’t?” Chiaki pressed, refusing to back down. Unfortunately, that bold statement struck a nerve Kaede didn’t know she had, bitter anger shooting up her spine.

“I _ am _! That’s what matters!” Kaede roared out, her fists balled painfully tight. She glared daggers into the infuriatingly insistent girl, untold pain stabbing at her as the scars of mistakes old and new were ripped open once again.

She’d expected Nanami to stubbornly refuse the truth yet again, but to her surprise, she fell silent. After a moment, she bowed her head slightly. “... Sorry,” She softly apologized with a small frown. Kaede blinked, once again taken by surprise, spurring the gamer to elaborate. “I didn’t mean to make you mad. I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

A spiteful part of Akamatsu wanted to hold onto her anger, but as the seconds silently passed by staring at Nanami’s small but genuine look of remorse, she found that harder and harder to do. Kaede crossed her arms, letting her scowl fall away with a weary sigh. “... I forgive you. And I’m sorry, too. It’s just… not been a good day,” She murmured, the understatement making her feel childish. Trying to push down the growing sense of embarrassment for losing her cool like that, she gently handed the monopod back. “You’re just trying to do the right thing, and I’m glad you trust me enough to trust me with something like that. But… it’s just not the truth. That has to be the fake video Monokuma was talking about. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Something indeterminable played across Nanami’s features. She opened her mouth slightly, seeming to hesitate for a moment before settling on what she wanted to say. “... I’m not disappointed. I still meant what I said earlier. But… could you do me a favor?”

Kaede tried to keep her lips from thinning in response. So far, doing what Chiaki asked tended to end up poorly for her in one way or another. Part of her felt guilty to hold such blatant suspicion towards someone she was supposed to be on the side as. At the same time, however, with all Chiaki had been keeping secret from her, and likely still was… it was hard to say the feeling was unwarranted, as hypocritical as she probably was for feeling it.She wished she could simply trust Chiaki flat out, but if that wasn’t an option… well, hadn’t Kaito said to doubt people now so you could trust them later? Maybe a compromise was the best idea. “... Depending on what it is, I’d be happy to help.” She replied, quirking her lips up in a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I want you to think about the video. Even if you still decide it’s fake, just think over the details and try to explain why you feel that way. If you’re still convinced by tomorrow night, tell me why, and I won’t bring it up again. Can you do that, Kaede?” Chiaki asked sincerely, traces of a calculating glint in her eyes.

The former Ultimate Pianist frowned disapprovingly. “Chiaki…” She began, exasperation bleeding into her tired voice. She couldn’t believe the gamer was still so dead set on this despite how obviously fake that tape had to be. After all, the trial proved Nanami was much sharper than she initially let on, yet she was falling for something like that? It was beyond frustrating, not helping her already sour mood in the slightest, but more than anything, she just felt tired. She just wanted it to stop. If that was what it took to finally make Chiaki see reason, then… “... Do you promise?”

Chiaki nodded steadfastly. “I do. I know it might seem weird, but… it’s really important to me. But, I also get that it’s pretty hard on you. So…” Nanami raised a mostly closed fist, with only her smallest finger extended. Her face was as direly serious as it had been for nearly the entire conversation as she said, “Pinky swear.”

Akamatsu stared at the offered pinky, a slightly confused smile involuntarily coming to her. “Uh… isn’t that a little silly?” She asked, partially unsure if the other girl was messing with her. If she was, Chiaki had a considerable poker face, as the only change in her expression was a slight furrowing of her brow and a small tilt of her head.

“... Is it? I thought that was what people did for things like this…” The gamer replied somewhat unsurely, though she didn’t retract her hand.

_ “Geez… she really is kind of awkward. But she seems so sincere about it…” _ Kaede silently mused, her unsure simper gradually shifting into a more genuine if small and weary smile. “Pinky swear.” She agreed as she wrapped her own pinky around Nanami’s, sealing the deal. 

Chiaki mirrored her expression, and after a moment, the pair broke it off. “Thanks. It means a lot that you’re willing to do that for me,” She thanked sweetly. Kaede couldn’t quite muster her usual enthusiasm, only managing a confirming nod. Still, that didn’t seem to phase her often stoic companion. A second passed before Chiaki’s pink eyes started to droop a bit, the girl trying and failing to stifle a yawn as she sluggishly glanced towards the clock. “... Huh. It’s getting pretty late. We should probably get to bed…”

Kaede nodded, her smirk faltering a bit as she thought about the fallout she’d have to face in the morning. “Yeah. I’ve got a lot to explain tomorrow… and to think about, apparently,” She noted, her attempt to sound optimistic coming across as more rueful. Shaking her head a little, Kaede gave a small farewell wave. “Goodnight, Chiaki. See you in the morning.”

Chiaki weakly returned the wave as she sluggishly moved towards the door with yet another yawn. “G’night…” She sleepily muttered back. With that, the door softly closed behind her, and Kaede was once again alone.

Kaede let out a long, tired sigh, her shoulders slumping with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion as she locked her door and wearily leaned her back against it. That… was horrible. Enough had already happened to mark the day as one of the worst in her entire life long before she was subjected to _ that. _ In a way, she supposed she should be thankful Chiaki was understanding enough to not take those heinous lies and half-truths at face value instead of falling for it like she was unfortunately certain more than a few of her fellow prisoners would. The truth of what she’d done was monstrous enough without Monokuma twisting everything in the worst possible way. But, of all the things to make up, to imply that she somehow wasn’t the killer…

A small hiss of pain escaped her from how her fingernails stabbed at her palms. It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so horrible. She had no clue how someone as bright as the Ultimate Gamer could believe such a gross and blatant lie. When Monokuma said one of the tapes was fake, she figured it would be something so well hidden that nobody would be able to tell the difference. To say that one of the blackened on the ship wasn’t a killer at all? It was insulting how boldfaced the attempt at deception was. 

After all, she was definitely the culprit. The Ultimate Detective himself proved that. There’s no way he would have made a mistake as massive as identifying the wrong culprit. Even if he somehow had, the rules of the game were cut and dry. If they voted for the wrong person, the killer would have escaped and everyone else would die, yet that didn’t happen. As demented as Monokuma was, he’d never gone back on one of his rules. There was no way he’d let the game continue after a false verdict, right? It didn’t make sense. There’d just be no reason to.

_ “... Unless… maybe the _ ** _mastermind _ ** _ was the one who…” _

Kaede wildly shook her head to banish the thought. No, that was even more insane than the idea that she’d been framed at all. _ “Don’t be stupid. Even ignoring the fact that the mastermind _ ** _doesn’t exist_ ** _ ,” _ She forcefully reminded herself, _ “There’s no way someone could have killed him like that without getting caught on the cameras. That last picture of Rantaro was taken right before he died. Even if they knew about the intervals somehow, they should have shown up in the photo!” _

The logic held up perfectly. After all, no one had an opportunity to even look at the photos before they were developed!

… Developed by the Monokubs… who would have been able to do anything they wanted to the photos with impunity… and who worked for Monokuma and thus the **mastermind**…

Kaede lightly slapped her forehead with a groan. “Stop it. You’ve been through a nightmare of a day, and you’re tired. You aren’t thinking straight. There’s more important things to focus on than stupid conspiracy theories like that,” She scolded herself, a shameful sense of foolishness coming over her. The fact that she was even partially humoring that nonsense was proof that she was beyond exhausted. “Get some sleep, and tomorrow, try to patch things up with everyone. God knows there’s a lot I have to apologize for…”

With those less than inspiring words in mind, Kaede dragged herself to bed, knowing full well she was in for a second restless night in a row. Yet, staring at the ceiling without a thought in her mind as she waited to eventually succumb to exhaustion, she couldn’t help but still find that preferable to trying to think of all the reasons Rantaro’s death was her fault.

Or the possibility that it _ wasn’t _.

***

As expected, sleep proved a fruitless endeavor. Whenever she managed to drift off, piercing music notes and the whir of an impossibly fast wheel inevitably chased her back to reality in a cold sweat. By the time she finally gave up on the idea, she felt almost more exhausted than she had before going to bed, the blonde grimacing at the light as she checked her monopod clock to find it was still an hour and a half before the morning announcement. She stifled a sigh as she sluggishly dragged herself out of bed. “Okay… the good news is that means there’s plenty of time to come up with how to explain myself to everyone. I _ have _to get this right… so,” Kaede pumped her fists, forcing a smile to encourage herself. “I will! I can do this! And the first step towards that is getting out there and facing the day!”

In truth, the words didn’t magically erase the fatigue from her bones or the lingering sludge of misery and regret weighing her down, but at least it gave her some sort of goal to work towards. As long as she had something to focus on, those feelings were far easier to ignore. With that, Kaede grabbed a quick shower and then proceeded to the dining hall, thinking of what exactly to say all the while.

When she arrived at the kitchen, however, Kaede found herself at a loss for what to do. As proven by the previous morning’s hot chocolate, calling her culinary skills lackluster would probably be a compliment, so any actual cooking was off the table. It would still be about half an hour before Kirumi showed up, though, so she might as well keep herself busy with something. _ "It must be pretty hard on Kirumi to wake up and start working so early in the morning… maybe she'd like some coffee? I'd just have to use a coffee machine for that. Besides, I'm still a bit groggy, so it'd probably be good for me too…" _ The ex-pianist mused as she began inspecting the vast array of appliances. It took a little bit, but soon enough, she was able to locate it and some coffee grounds, a pot brewing shortly after. It wasn't terribly complicated, but she wasn't exactly an expert barista or even someone that drank coffee particularly often, so she was more or less aiming for something decent rather than the exquisite brews Teruteru or Kirumi could make.

A short time later, a few shrill beeps announced it was ready, spurring Akamatsu to pour herself a cup. She looked down at the mug filled with pitch-black liquid uncertainly. _ “Hmm… coffee’s stronger the darker it is, right? Maybe trying it straight will help. Only one way to find out,” _ Kaede thought to herself as she raised the cup to her lips and gently blew on it before taking a sip… and promptly having her eyes turn to the size of dinner plates as the scolding, bitter liquid hit her tongue. She _ barely _ resisted the urge to spit it out, letting out a pained squeal as she all but threw the mug on the counter and miserably tried to gulp down the drink, wincing the entire way down. _ “OWOWOW _ ** _OW! _ ** _ Wh-what the hell?! Is it _ ** _supposed _ ** _ to be like that…?!” _

Kaede glared down at the drink, feeling unreasonably betrayed by the inanimate object. She crossed her arms in annoyance, almost as if she could somehow intimidate it into not being so hot, but it shockingly didn’t work. She shook her head with a discontented hum. _ “Okay… maybe it’s just too hot right now. I don’t really know how long it’s supposed to cool down, though… wait a second, isn’t iced coffee a thing?” _Kaede remembered excitedly, a small ‘aha!’ escaping her at the thought as she quickly scurried off to fetch some ice cubes from the freezer. Experimentally, she started putting the cubes in, starting with three and gradually adding more as it melted into the brew. The process would have been a lot simpler if she could just dip a finger in to test the temperature, but even if she’d given up on the piano, old habits die hard. As such, she was stuck awkwardly trying to guess the temperature by feeling the air above the cup with each ice cube she added.

It took nearly an entire tray before it was finally cool enough for her to try again. This time, it didn’t set her mouth on fire, which was a definite improvement. However, that did little to disguise the fact that it tasted like dirt, much to her disappointment. “Oh, come on,” She grumbled under her breath. So far, it was shaping up to be as big a blunder as the hot chocolate… but Kaede Akamatsu was nothing if not stubborn. “Fine. Let’s try something different…” The musician declared to the empty room before turning to search for sugar. It was thankfully easy enough to find in the pantry, and soon she was testingly adding teaspoon after teaspoon to the brew. The first teaspoon didn’t seem to help much, so she tried a second… and a third… and a fourth… before she knew it, she’d dumped ten teaspoons into it. After all her effort, it was only _ just _tolerable, the closest taste comparison she could think of being a really bland, flat soda.

Kaede let out a sigh, setting the mug down with a frown. “Well, so much for becoming the Ultimate Barista…” She lamely joked to herself, managing a rueful smirk despite her disappointment.

“Likely for the best. To be honest, I don’t think it has the same ring as your current title.”

Kaede managed to keep from jumping at the noise this time, merely turning her head to face the approaching Ultimate Maid with a smile. “Oh! Morning, Kirumi!” She merrily greeted with a wave, her botched cup of coffee instantly going forgotten. 

Kirumi gave a more reserved mirror of the expression, bowing her head slightly. “Good morning, Kaede,” Tojo greeted, but after a moment, her smile began to fade. “... I’m sorry if this is overstepping, but… another sleepless night?”

Akamatsu’s lips turned downward, glancing down to the floor somewhat shamefully. “... I don’t want to talk about it,” She said quietly, hating how pathetic she sounded. She squeezed her elbow tightly. “I know I promised I wouldn’t just bottle it up, a-and I won’t… but…”

Mercifully, Kirumi nodded without forcing her to explain. “I understand, Kaede. This is very recent, after all. So long as you _ do _ confide it when you’re ready, I won’t force the issue.”

The former maestro managed a frail, grateful simper. “Thank you. Really. I promise, I’ll tell you everything soon,” She pledged, a sense of unease settling in her stomach at the words despite her reassuring tone. The awkward silence that followed didn’t help. Desperate to change the topic, Kaede quickly glanced around the kitchen, relief surging in her as she spotted the mostly full coffee pot. “Oh, right! I made some coffee if you want some!” She managed a slightly bashful grin. “I can’t promise it’s great, but still!”

Tojo blinked, clearly surprised to have someone else prepare something for her, before a polite, pleased smile came to her. “I see. Thank you, Kaede,” The maid approached the machine and picked up the pot, hesitating for a moment before looking back to her friend. “Oh, forgive me. I’m a little ahead of myself. Shall I prepare you a cup?”

Kaede glanced ruefully at her miserable concoction. “Yeah, that would be-” She started, only to abruptly cut herself off. “Wait! No! I made it so you could enjoy it, not to give you more work!”

Kirumi shook her head. “It truly wouldn’t be that diffi-”

“I request that you enjoy your coffee!” Kaede suddenly blurted out with a dramatic point. 

Kirumi stared at her with a stunned look for a moment before a long, lightly amused sigh escaped the silver-haired servant. “... As you wish.” She conceded with a ghost of a smile. With that, she soon poured herself a mug as well. To Kaede’s surprise and subsequent concern, she made no move to cool it down or sweeten it first, simply raising the cup to her lips.

“W-wait, it’s-!”

A pleased hum emanated from the other girl, not a hint of discomfort on her face. Quite the opposite, in fact, her lips quirking further upward as she lowered the cup with a slight bow of her head. “Ah, it’s wonderful. Thank you, Kaede.”

“... You like it like that?” The blonde asked flatly. 

“Yes. I find it’s a wonderful way to start the morning.” Kirumi replied completely genuinely, unknowingly blowing her friend’s mind. At least a hint of it must have shown through though as she quickly moved to stifle a giggle. “Ah… it can certainly be an acquired taste…”

“I guess so, but if ten teaspoons of sugar couldn’t help, I don’t think it’s one I’ll be getting any time soon…” Kaede mumbled, rubbing her head sheepishly. The pleased look on her friend’s face served to ease the embarrassment a touch, a touch of pride swelling in her chest. “But I’m glad you like it!” She pumped her arms. “My first happy customer as an apprentice maid!”

Tojo’s smile grew, until a glint of consideration danced in her eyes for a moment. She put a gloved hand to her chin. “Hmm… I’m aware you’ve requested I enjoy this coffee before anything else, and I will gladly do so. But, if you’re truly inclined to learn how to serve as a maid, would you like to learn how to make coffee that would be more palatable to you? Few people enjoy straight coffee, so it would likely be a good base for serving it in general.”

Kaede’s eyes went wide. “Huh? Really?” She asked, taken aback by the offer, before she delightedly clasped her hands together. “Thank you so much! I’d love to!”

Kirumi’s eyes lit up happily as she bowed her head. “Excellent. The first and most important step is to identify the individual’s preferences. For example…”

And so, for the next half-hour, Kaede eagerly listened to Kirumi’s instructions on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. She couldn’t pretend to understand all the intricacies Tojo lectured her on, especially how she somehow magically made designs in the coffee with the milk (which she subsequently kicked herself for somehow forgetting to try adding in her hopeless attempts to fix her original cup), but she intently took in every word and tried her best to get down the parts she could. All the while, Kirumi served as her diligent tutor, patiently delivering her lesson with a pleased smile. No matter how many times Kaede made a mistake -which was several- the maid would simply demonstrate what went wrong, how to fix it, and congratulate her upon correcting the error.

It was exactly what Kaede needed after the hell she’d gone through the day prior; a calm, fun excursion with a dear friend. No ticking clocks, no threat of death, no suffering; nothing but her, Kirumi, and some surprisingly tasty coffee for her efforts, her misery long since forgotten. By the time they were finished, they had enough coffee brewing for everyone on the ship, the two girls chatting amicably over their own cups in the meantime. As she reached the bottom of her mug, a warm grin came over her. “Thanks again, Kirumi. This was a ton of fun.”’

Kirumi contentedly closed her eyes. “Certainly. It is my pleasure to serve… and it’s been quite an enjoyable experience for myself, as well.”

“Me too. There’s few things better than seeing a pair of beautiful women having _ coffee _together…”

Kaede and Kirumi turned practically in perfect unison to glower at the newly arrived Ultimate Chef, Teruteru meeting their glares with a shameless smirk. He winked at them, waving a two-fingered salute. “Morning, ladies!”

“Mister Hanamura.” Kirumi acknowledged bluntly, her happy look wiped away in favor of guarded annoyance.

Kaede was considerably less tolerant of his antics, the blonde crossing her arms with a stern pout. “Teruteru, I don’t even get that one, but knock it off. I was letting stuff slide with everything going on yesterday, but I don’t want to hear something like that again…” She warned in a low voice. 

Teruteru’s suave demeanor faltered somewhat, his grin growing strained as his eyes seemed to wince. “Ah… just joking, Kaede. My bad. I guess I’m still a little jittery after… you know,” Teruteru mumbled glumly, grimacing. Kaede glanced away, a pang of regret hitting her, but the portly boy was thankfully quick to change the topic. “A-anyway, how about I make it up to you? I’ve got a large skill set, you know,” He said proudly, a small chuckle escaping him at her flat glare. “N-not in any sort of unsavory way, of course.”

Akamatsu resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead humming in thought as she considered his offer. “Hmm… well, since you’re here, we should probably start making breakfast… oh! Some pancakes would be nice!” She declared, suddenly feeling her stomach rumble as the thought of food reminded her just how long it’d actually been since she ate.

Teruteru scratched at his chin. “Pancakes, huh? I know a recipe or two that could work… alright! I’ll make pancakes that’ll make you soak your-” He stopped suddenly, a strained laugh transitioning him to a less offensive remark. “Aheh, I mean, make your mouth water!”

_ “At least he stopped himself this time. Baby steps, right?” _Kaede drolly thought to herself. Regardless, she offered him a beaming grin. “Sounds great! And hey, if you don’t mind, could you show me how to do it too? Kirumi was teaching me how to make coffee was a blast, so I think trying to cooking something could be fun!”

Kirumi smiled at that. “Learning to make both coffee and pancakes? At this rate, it won’t be long before you’re ready for breakfast services as a true maid.” She mused, a hint of pride in her voice.

The Ultimate Chef nodded confirmingly. “Of course. I’m never one to complain when someone wants to get hands on with me,” He hummed, though from the look on his face, it seemed he genuinely didn’t realize the double meaning for once. He turned to the pantry with a small wave. “You and ‘Rumi can finish up while I get the ingredients, and then we can get started. Remember, washed hands and hairnets!”

With that, the trio got started on preparing breakfast for the day. Yesterday’s unintentional class-wide fast spurred them to make a considerable feast to make up for it; Kirumi got to work on a variety buffet similar to the from the first morning on the ship while Teruteru demonstrated a surprisingly in-depth technique for how to make perfect pancakes, opening with what ingredients to use to make sure they were as fluffy as the ones on TV. From there, he showed off the different kinds of pancakes someone could make, starting with plain ones and working his way up to blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, and even multi-topping pancakes, though Kaede wasn’t quite adventurous enough to try anything more complicated than the basics for now. 

The twinkle in his eye throughout was a kind of happiness she rarely saw in the often lecherous man; a genuine pleasure free of any perversion or teasing mockery. Whenever he spoke about whatever technique he was showing her at the time, there was a bittersweet fondness to it that told a story his words didn’t. Kaede had considered asking him where he learned all this once or twice, but one look at his expression was enough to make it clear exactly who’d taught him. She didn’t press, simply letting herself be content with the fact that he’d taken her suggestion to heart after all.

Once they started wrapping up with the pancakes and moved to assist Kirumi with the more general foods for the meal, the three settled into a comfortable groove of cooking and chatting amongst each other. The Ultimate Maid and Chef amicably bickered with each other with the odd comment from Kaede as well, Hanamura managing to make an admittedly amusing nuisance of himself even despite cutting back on his innuendos considerably. It was far from Kokichi levels, but the cook definitely enjoyed teasing his coworkers. Still, even if they were often more… _ charged _than Kaede would have preferred, his jokes did stay within the boundaries of good taste, so she could at least appreciate the effort to heel his impulses. In truth, she was actually glad for his presence, oddly enough. It definitely helped to keep the mood light, a welcome reprieve from her suffocating isolation.

Of course, that was something in and of itself: Kaede couldn’t help but notice just how weirdly normal it felt. 

Hifumi and Celeste were dead. It hadn’t even been a full day since the latter perished. They’d been fighting for their lives less than twenty-four hours prior… and now they were joking around and making breakfast. It was boggling for Kaede to think about. A not insignificant part of her felt ashamed to be having such a good time after two of her friends met their unjust ends, and just thinking about the pair made her heart ache… yet, the crushing misery of the night before simply couldn’t break through the happiness she felt at that moment. It made her a bit guilty to acknowledge that, but it was the truth. Being with the friends she had left, truly living life with them… it had a way of making it all seem a little less hopeless. It was a reminder of the reason _ why _ she was so desperate for them all to live in the first place, putting the obvious reasoning aside. Maybe it was wrong of her to feel that way, but… looking at Kirumi and Teruteru’s smiling faces, it was impossible for her to resist one herself. _ This _is what she’d fought so hard for… so, she might as well enjoy it, shouldn’t she?

Nothing lasted forever, however. The reverberating bell that preceded Monokuma’s gratingly cheerful Morning Announcement was her final warning of what inevitably had to follow, Kaede’s contentment fading away as dreadful uncertainty took its place. It must have shown on her expression as Kirumi’s own pleased look shifted into one of concern. “Is everything alright, Kaede?”

Akamatsu tried to hide a grimace, forcing a nod. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” She lied unconvincingly. Tojo didn’t have to say a word for her disbelief to be evident, her visible eye narrowing with a disappointed firmness that silently admonished her dishonesty. As much as Kaede was sure she’d loathe the comparison, it really did remind her of a mother’s scolding look. She only managed to hold out for a few moments before sighing wearily, her gaze falling to the floor as she squeezed her elbow out of habit. “... I’m worried about what’s going to happen with everyone else. I really screwed up by lying to you all. I can’t blame them if they don’t trust me anymore… but…”

“... I see…” The Ultimate Maid murmured with a frown. The refined woman hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of what to say. Ultimately, that look of apprehension didn’t leave even as she offered her advice. “... To be honest, Kaede, I cannot promise they will forgive you. In the end, it’s up to each of them to decide that. The only thing I can suggest is that you acknowledge their concerns and be truthful with them. It might not make them trust you, but it would go a long way to proving you have their best interests at heart.”

The harsh reality of the words stung. It was a hard thing to accept, given how hard she’d tried to protect them all. Yet… as dour as those words were, the realism of it helped ground her anxiousness over the situation. Admittedly, the worst case scenario of everyone turning on her was always improbable, but something about her friend telling her flat-out that some are more likely to forgive her than others instilled an odd sense of hopefulness in Kaede. It definitely didn’t feel great… but it didn’t feel quite as suffocating anymore, either. Kaede gave a slow, simple nod. “... Yeah, I think you’re right. Thank you, Kirumi.”

The maid dutifully bowed her head. “You’re welcome, and please, remember that I am here for you if you wish for any assistance during this. I’ll do my best to help you any way I can.”

Kaede managed a phantom of a smile at that, but shook her head. “I really appreciate it, but… this is something I have to do myself. I want to show them they can believe in me, no matter how long it takes.”

“Well, I don’t know how much stock you’d put in someone like me, but you’ve got my vote.” Teruteru offered, apparently having noticed their discussion at some point. 

The blonde looked at him in surprise. “Huh? I do?”

Hanamura nodded with a hum. “I’d say so. Like I said back in the cafe, even if I don’t mind my jokes nearly as much as you seem to, most people would be happy just punching me and getting on their way, but you aren’t. You wouldn’t keep trying to talk me out of them instead if you didn’t care about me,” He mused, a half-smirk, half-genuine look on his face. It slipped to a frown as a pang of guilt flashed in his eyes. “I… know I didn’t repay that trust at the trial, but it does mean something to me.” The chef said remorsefully, a rare seriousness coming over him.

As _ bizarre _ as if felt to say, the fact that Teruteru thought about her like that was actually kind of honoring. _ “Maybe I’ve been too harsh on him. When he’s not being a creep, he seems like a pretty decent guy. As long as he keeps his jokes to himself, we could probably be pretty great friends,” _Kaede resolved as she gave him a grateful smile. “I’m really glad to hear that. Thanks, Teruteru.”

He twirled the tip of his pompadour, his usual air confidence returning to him. “Anytime. There’s nothing I like more than helping girls feel warm and tingly inside.”

_ “And there’s the reminder why. Smooth, Teruteru...” _ Kaede thought with a scoff, rolling her eyes. “I’ll let that slide, but you’re pushing it,” The blonde warned. Teruteru simply chuckled (mostly) good naturedly in response and gave a wave of surrender. A small smirk tugged at her lips despite herself, shaking her head to keep from giving him the satisfaction of seeing any hint of amusement. “Well, everyone will probably be here soon, so we should start getting everything moved out. Ready, guys?”

With that, the three began delivering the various buffet trays out into the dining hall to greet the hoard of starving teenagers that would soon arrive. It came as little surprise to find Peko, Sakura, Korekiyo, and Gonta already in the room, the warriors residing in their usual corner while the anthropologist and entomologist seemed to wind up together, presumably waiting for their mutual object of fascination to arrive. Short pleasantries were exchanged, a slight air of unease hanging over the gathered students, but it was a slight improvement from the morning of the motive. The gathering grew as more people dragged themselves from their rooms with every serving table they brought out, some clearly more tired than others if Tsumugi’s unkempt hair and the dark lines under her eyes were any indication. The awkwardness between her and the cosplayer made her skin crawl guiltily, a feeling that definitely wasn’t helped when a half-conscious Chiaki joined at the same table. Kaede tried not to let it get to her, but it was clear Shirogane most likely topped the list of people she’d have to work to win over again.

One of the other people she owed an apology to the most was among the last to walk in. Despite the somewhat grim atmosphere in the room, Kaito marched into the room with his trademark grin. “Morning, guys!” The astronaut boisterously greeted. Somewhat surprisingly, he actually managed to get a pretty good response in turn, with most of the students at least giving a nod or wave back and a handful even calling it back to him. Kaede was among the latter, and though she could have imagined it, she thought she saw a hint of relief in his eyes at her slightly guilt-twinged smile. Following Momota was Mikan, who offered her own meek wave, and more surprisingly, Mondo. The Ultimate Biker was considerably less chipper than the other man, a slight scowl and his stiff body language making it clear he wasn’t all that comfortable, but it still seemed like a small improvement over the last time he was there. Saying something to the other two that she couldn’t quite make out, he grabbed a table for himself and his comrades, leaving Kaede in a conflicted position.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, they arrived just as she finished bringing over the last cart, meaning there was nothing to stop her from joining the trio aside from her own apprehension. Guilt stabbed at her as her callous words echoed in her head, the hurt on Kaito’s face as damning as it had been at her own trial. The idea of facing him after all but blaming him for Celeste’s death made her heart sink with shame… but, if she didn’t at least try, what good would that do? Cutting off one of her closest friends on the ship over something _ she _ did wrong was even worse than what she’d done in the first place. She shook her head, sucking in a breath. _ “Come on, Kaede. Don’t make things worse just because it’s scary to try. Besides, it’s Kaito! If he still wanted to be friends after… _ ** _what I did_ ** _ … then there’s no way he’d hold a grudge over that, right?” _ She tried to psyche herself up, gathering all the courage she could as she forced herself towards the Luminary of the Stars’ table. Kaede managed a warm smile as she approached the three with a wave. “Hey, guys!”

Kaito turned to her, his face lighting up. “Hey, Kaede! C’mon, there’s a seat open!” He cheerfully invited, sliding the empty chair next to him out. She took it gratefully, sitting between him and Mikan.

“G-good morning, Kaede!” Tsumiki greeted with a small but delighted grin. Hardly a trace of the nurse’s near constant fright was left at the moment, much to Kaede’s pleasant surprise. Apparently being around Kaito was a good influence on her if that was anything to go by. 

“... Mornin’.” Came Mondo’s gruff reply, the man giving an acknowledging nod but little else. He looked distracted, clearly more in tune with his thoughts than the world around him. It was a little concerning, but given everything that happened in the last four days, she was just glad he was willing to come along at all. Kaede smiled at him, but decided against trying to press just yet. She didn’t want to drive him away when he was finally showing signs of opening up,

The blonde wasn’t sure what to say after that, her usual gift of gab failing her. Fortunately, Kaito wasn’t having any such trouble. “Saw you were helping out Kirumi and Teruteru. I like the initiative! Heroes should always be willing to lend a hand. Keep it up, and you’ll get promoted from being a sidekick in no time!” He proudly praised as he leaned back in his chair and flashed her a thumbs up.

_ “Sidekick, apprentice maid, siren… geez, I’m gonna have a pretty full resume at this rate!” _ Kaede thought with a laugh. Deciding to play along, she gave him a cheeky grin. “At this rate, you’re gonna end up as _ my _sidekick.”

Kaito’s eyes bugged out in absolute shock. “Wh-what?! No way! The Luminary of the Stars is the main attraction!” He refused pridefully, pumping a fist. “I’ll prove it! I, Kaito Momota, challenge you! Whoever can do the most pushups tonight wins, and whoever loses has to admit they’re the sidekick!”

Struggling to stifle a chuckle at his outrage, Kaede shook her head. “Hey, that’s not fair!”

The harsh thud of Kaito’s colliding fists disagreed with her. “It’s totally fair! It’s all about how much you want it! And don’t tell me it’s because you’re a girl, because Maki blows Shuichi out of the water every time!”

This was dumb on a number of levels, and Kaede could easily have picked any of them as her reason to shoot him down. Exercise didn’t prove heroics, for one. It wasn’t the sort of thing you competed over, either. For some reason, however, her mind leapt to the response that was only mildly less dumb than his original point. “Well- you’re an astronaut, and I’m a pianist! You’ve got way more experience working out than me! There’s no way it’d be even!”

Kaito gained a smug grin. “Then I guess that means you’re still my sidekick! After all, the whole point of being a sidekick is training until you’re on par with the hero, so that means you still need to follow my lead!”

Kaede scoffed, but made no effort to hide her own grin. It was amazing just how easily he’d managed to make her forget why she was even reluctant to talk to him. She definitely wouldn’t blow up his ego by admitting it, but he was more charming than she’d given him credit for. From feeling afraid to even approach him to getting into banter like this like nothing happened to begin with… it was pretty incredible, if she was being honest. Shaking her head, she decided to let him think he won the argument. “That so, huh? Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. How about you lead us to some breakfast?”

“Um, I think that’s a good idea. It’s really not good to go so long without eating, e-especially if you have things like workouts planned…” Mikan added gently.

“Of course! Keeping a balanced diet’s a key part of an astronaut’s discipline! Gotta have enough energy for training, after all. Alright, guys, let’s dig in!” Momota called out commandingly as he shot up from his chair like a rocket. Kaede and Mikan stood shortly after, but Mondo didn’t move, still brooding in place. Kaito quirked an eyebrow questioningly. “Hey, aren’t you hungry, man? You’ve gotta have something!”

Owada blinked, suddenly ripped from his thoughts by the question. “Huh? Oh… yeah.” He muttered, shaking his head as his lips thinned. Kaede frowned in concern.

“Are you okay, Mondo?” She asked, more so hoping he’d say what exactly was wrong than having him deny the obvious. 

The latter is what she got, however, his greyish purple eyes flicking to hers for a moment before looking away just as quickly. “‘M fine. Just slept like shit is all…” He muttered half under his breath. Kaede’s frown deepened, her disappointment at his non-answer showing through more than she intended. His expression hardened a little, but the criminal didn’t confront her beyond a muffled grunt as he started towards the buffet. While it only worsened Kaede’s concern, Kaito merely gave a slight shrug and followed after him. She shot a glance towards Mikan, the look in her eyes making it clear they were both thinking the same thing, but she relented after a moment and simply walked after them.

Whether Mondo wasn’t hungry or was just trying to get back to his thoughts as soon as possible, he didn’t spend long picking things out, only grabbing a bowl of miso soup and some bacon before splitting from the three. Mikan similarly didn’t need very long to get what she wanted, at least compared to Kaito, who was helping himself to a bit of almost everything, including enough pancakes to feed a small army. “... Does that ‘balanced astronaut diet’ of yours usually include a stack of chocolate pancakes as big as your head?” She questioned teasingly as she fixed her own much milder (if still larger than usual) breakfast. 

“Er… yeah!” Kaito replied with a voice much too confident to actually be so. After a moment, he rubbed at the back of his head bashfully. “Well, okay, not _ exactly _… but it’s important for astronauts to be able to adapt in the face of the unexpected! Abnormal hunger gets an abnormal amount of pancakes! Besides, we’re bumping up your training tonight, so it’ll balance out!”

“Uh huh…” Kaede replied doubtfully, smirking playfully at his light glare. An amicable moment of silence passed, her smile fading away as she recalled what she wanted to say to him to begin with. “... Hey, Kaito? About what I said at the trial-”

“Don’t.”

Akamatsu stared at him, completely thrown off. “... What?”

“Don’t apologize for things you didn’t do wrong,” He said firmly, meeting her eyes in a level gaze. “You were right, Kaede.”

Kaede was frozen in place for a moment, only barely able to bring herself to shake her head. “No, I wasn’t. It wasn’t fair to shove the blame on you like that.”

“No, you were. Every time Monokuma dragged someone off to die, I just stood by and watched. I said I wouldn’t turn my back on anyone here, but I did it to Celeste without thinking twice. I promised you no one else would die, and then I didn’t do a damn thing to keep that from happening,” He cursed himself, clenching his free hand into a fist as he grit his teeth. “Sure, maybe I couldn’t have stopped any of them from happening… but when the hell did I stop wanting to _ try _? Why didn’t it even cross my mind until you pointed it out?”

Guilt stabbed at the musician, her gaze shifting from apologetic to sympathetic. “Kaito…”

Momota shook his head. “It shouldn’t have taken you to remind me, Kaede. That’s why I know you’re right.”

“... Even if that were true, it doesn’t change that I shouldn’t have done that. I hurt you, Kaito. I’m sorry.” Kaede softly apologized.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, the man still looking like he wanted to argue with her, yet was hesitant to actually do so. “... I didn’t hold it against you to begin with. But… we’re good,” He reassured. Silence once again fell over the pair, less comfortable than the first, but she couldn’t deny it was relieving to hear for sure. After a beat, Kaito offered her a smile. “Hey, how can you frown when you’ve got pancakes? We can mope sometime else. You gotta start the day with a smile!”

The astronaut’s grin was infectious, Kaede unable to fight off the simper tugging at her lips. “You’re right. We should look forward,” She said before confidently pumping her fists as best she could while holding her plate. “So let’s do that!”

Soon after, the pair walked back together, one of Kaede’s biggest concerns of the morning all but perfectly resolved. While she certainly wasn’t happy to find him indirectly blaming himself for the deaths of their friends (a discrepancy with herself that she wasn’t blind to but pointedly chose to ignore), it was definitely reassuring to know she hadn’t run off one of her closest friends in a fit of anger. Once they rejoined the group, it practically went back to how things were a couple days prior. Mondo was fairly silent throughout, though he gave the odd comment at Kaede or Kaito’s light prodding from time to time. The return to lively conversation after shifting between tense silences and life-or-death debates of the prior two days was like a breath of fresh air to Kaede.

However, as fun as it was, it couldn’t entirely distract her from the elephant in the room. It was hard not to notice the too-long glances occasionally shot her way. Even if that much was just her imagination, the stiffness in the air between her and Shirogane and some of the other arrivals spoke volumes about where she stood with at least some of the group. It was difficult to pick up on individual conversations amongst the general ruckus of the gathered students, but she was sure she’d heard her name at least once or twice in the mix. She couldn’t blame them for it; she knew her actions would be controversial at best. It only made sense if people wanted to debate and gossip about her. That didn’t stop the growing sense of anxiousness coming over her as she tried to deduce what they were saying about her, however.

After some time, that worry had eaten away at her reluctance to bring it up. It was terrifying to address it, but the swirling fears in her head wracked her nerves far worse than almost anything they could actually say. _ “It’s like Kirumi said; even if they don’t trust me anymore, saying something has to be better than pretending nothing happened. Face it head on now, and it won’t be as big a problem later on…” _She told herself, quietly taking in a deep breath to steady herself as she collected her courage. Once breakfast finally started winding down, she took her chance, lest she lose her determination before even starting. “Hey, everyone? Could I have a minute of your time?” She called out as she stood up, irrevocably putting her in the center of everyone’s attention.

Thirteen sets of eyes fell on her in an instant, the ambient din of conversation giving way to an intimidating silence. Kaede tried to ignore how suddenly small she felt under their gaze as she began. “... I know I already said it at the trial, but... I’m truly sorry. About everything. I couldn’t live up to my promise to protect everyone, and I lied to you all. I thought things would be better if some things just stayed secret… but, I was wrong. What I meant doesn’t change that I betrayed the trust you all put in me,” She apologized, head bowed in shame to keep from seeing their scrutinizing looks. That wasn’t the hard part, however, the girl tightly squeezing her elbow like a stress ball as she continued. “So… I understand if some of you don’t trust me anymore. I won’t ask you to, or for forgiveness. However you’re feeling right now, you’re probably right to.”

Each concession felt like a step towards the edge of a rooftop. Kaede knew she deserved it; if she wanted their trust, she shouldn’t have been so distrusting of them. Knowing that didn’t change the fact that she was more or less pouring salt on the seeds of cooperation she’d put her blood, sweat, and tears into growing over the past several days. If their supposed leader was admitting she wasn’t trustworthy, what guarantee was there that anyone would be willing to believe in anyone else? 

“... But…” Kaede quietly added as she slowly forced herself to look up at her fellow blackened. “Even if you don’t believe in me anymore, I want you guys to believe in each other. Trust in the bonds you’ve been forming so we can make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Hifumi felt like he couldn’t trust anyone… and now he’s gone. We can’t let anyone repeat that mistake. I want _ all _of us to get out of here and be friends, and to do that, we have to have faith in each other. If there’s anything I say you can trust, let it be that,” Kaede declared with absolute conviction, her voice unwavering as all her doubt seemed to vanish for one powerful moment. Once it passed, however, her confidence gradually withered away, the girl straining to keep from looking down at the floor again as she concluded. “... Thank you. That’s all.”

Akamatsu silently took in the reactions of her peers. Some looked unconvinced by her words, such as Tsumugi, who was pointedly not meeting her gaze. Most of the others were less easy to read, either bearing varying looks of confliction or not letting their expression betray their thoughts at all. To her relief, though, some were quick to back her up. “Lying not good thing to do to friends… but Gonta know Kaede just wanted to protect them. Gentlemen believe in people, especially friends, so Gonta still believe in you, Kaede!” The Ultimate Entomologist supported with a broad smile.

“Gonta’s right! A hero’s gotta believe in his sidekick, after all!” Kaito passionately added. 

Chiaki offered her a thin smile. “Yep. I agree.”

“M-me, too.” Mikan demurely supported.

Kirumi, who had been dutifully serving each table throughout the meal, bowed her head. “Though we’ve already said it privately, both Mister Hanamura and myself support you, Kaede.” She reaffirmed, an agreeing hum and nod coming from the Ultimate Chef at a serving station he’d set up nearby.

The show of support warmed Kaede’s heavy heart, a faint, grateful smile crossing her face. “... Thanks, guys.”

A long moment passed without a word, Kaede eventually assuming that no one had anything to add, but just as she was about to sit back down, an unexpected voice rose up in resistance. “... To be honest… I plainly don’t think I can trust you anymore.”

If the once-Ultimate Pianist should have expected anyone to speak out against her, Tsumugi was by far the chief among them, but that still didn’t keep her from reeling at the sudden denouncement. Shirogane rubbed at her elbow, giving Kaede a cross between a grimace and a glare. She almost looked reluctant to do so, almost as if it hurt, but there was no mistaking the bitterness and betrayal in her bespectacled gaze. Such emotion seemed so alien on the often passive cosplayer, Akamatsu feeling herself wither slightly under Tsumugi’s glare as she looked down shamefully. “... I understand-”

“I don’t think you really do,” Tsumugi interrupted, stunning Kaede into silence. Shirogane herself looked a bit surprised by the sharpness of her voice, but it was only a momentary distraction before her cold bitterness came back at full force. “You didn’t just lie to us, Kaede. You convinced everyone _ I _was lying when I was telling the truth. Do you know how horrible it is to have no one believe you when you’re not doing anything wrong?”

Kaede flinched as if the bluenette had walked over and slapped her. She hadn’t so much as raised her voice, but the resentment held within it was all it took to keep her quiet. Kaito wasn’t nearly as taken aback, however, as he quickly leapt to her defense. “Hey, that’s not fair! Kaede helped me prove you innocent, remember?!”

“But she’s also why people suspected me in the first place,” Tsumugi groused with a deep frown. “If you didn’t remember that noise, she would’ve said I was the culprit. We all would have…” She trailed off, the unspoken words hung heavy in the air, callously tossing yet another weight on Kaede’s heart. 

Mondo let out a derisive scoff. “You seemed pretty fuckin’ eager to throw me under the bus, too...” He rumbled pointedly. Tsumugi grimaced, some of her nerve vanishing, but she shook her head.

“S-sorry… but I mean it. I’m just not comfortable with Kaede being in charge anymore. So… I don’t think she should be.”

Akamatsu’s head shot up, her eyes widening in shock and hurt. “H-huh?! You… feel that strongly about it?” She quietly asked, her surprise fading into an apologetic weariness.

The Ultimate Astronaut grit his teeth. “Seriously?! Come on, Tsumugi! Everyone gets accused in the trials at some point! That’s not Kaede’s fault!” He argued incredulously.

Unfortunately, the Ultimate Cosplayer wasn’t the only dissenting voice in the crowd. Gundham narrowed his mismatched eyes as he crossed his arms. “While that is true, Luminary, we also cannot forget that many of our follies in that trial were born of the Siren’s deceptions. Regardless of her reasons, had she simply confided the same trust in us she expected us to grant her, much of our debate would not have happened. Hifumi’s killer could have been discovered with far less tribulation on us all.”

“But that only ‘cause she tried to protect Mondo! Reasons do matter!” Gonta viliantly tried to argue in her defense.

Korekiyo hummed. “Noble of her, true… but that also means she was willing to not only lie in order to cover for an attempted killer, but involve other people in her lie as well. Isn’t that so, Kaito?”

Momota jerked back at the accusation, letting out a growl. “You...!”

“He has a point,” Peko cut off, her tone firm but lacking the hostility of Shirogane. “Even granting that the circumstances were… extraordinary, Celeste exploited that to manipulate her, and all of us by proxy. It should go without saying why that’s concerning.”

Sakura nodded slowly. “I agree,” She murmured, shifting her sympathetic but unwavering eyes to Kaede. “Though you meant well, ignoring the consequences of those good intentions would be unwise.”

Each accusation was another damning blow to Kaede’s confidence as their supposed leader, their words lashing at her spirit like whips. She’d already been preparing that they might reject her, but even the fact that most of them were at least sympathetic did little to lessen the blow of seeing so many of her friends argue against her. She gradually curled into herself as their complaints piled up, hating how small she felt, yet refusing to speak up in her own defense. How could she refuse what was objectively true?

“Whether you approve of Kaede’s methods or not,” Kirumi spoke up, her hands calmly folded in front of her. “Please remember that it was ultimately her efforts that let us find the truth of the case. Without her leadership during the investigation and the trial, I’m not certain we would be having this conversation to start with.”

Leon crossed his arms, looking unsure. “I mean, I get how that could be true… but, isn’t it weird that she kept stuff like that notebook a secret for so long? She said we all had to trust each other to investigate, and then she keeps a bunch of clues to herself? That’s pretty sketchy, man.”

Kaito shot to his feet growling, slamming his fist down on the table with a resounding ** _thunk_ ** and making Mikan yelp and the tableware clatter in his wake. “I can’t believe you guys! You’re all turning your backs on her for petty bullshit after everything she’s done for us! You’re seriously pissing me off!”

Kaede shook her head. “No, Kaito, they-”

He swiveled to her with a scolding glare. “And you’re pissing me off the most!”

“H-huh?!” Kaede sputtered out in shocked confusion, raising her hands in front of her on instinct.

“Why are you just standing there and taking this crap?! This is no different from the tunnel!” Momota demanded frustratedly.

Akamatsu frowned at him, crossing her arms. “I’m not going to force people to follow me, Kaito. I’m not a dictator. I’m only the leader as long as people want me to be. If they don’t…” She forced herself to ignore the pang of hurt those words brought on. “... Then I won’t be.”

Confliction tainted the steadfast outrage in Kaito’s amethyst eyes, the two individually agreeable values clashing violently with each other in his mind. “Tch… even so, just because a couple people are saying that doesn’t mean we all want you out!”

Kaede’s frown deepened, her eyes hardening authoritatively. Before the former Ultimate Pianist could give a response, however, Chiaki offered a solution. “... If it’s important, maybe we could have a vote like we did for the videos? If we do that, everyone has a say, so it’ll be fair no matter what happens… I think.”

The blonde thought about it for a moment before giving a somewhat reluctant nod. “... Yeah, I think so too. If nobody has a problem with it,” She glanced at Kaito admonishingly before he could say anything. “Then that’s what we should do.”

A general hum of agreement followed, no one particularly eager for what was about to happen, but at least being civil enough to agree to it. Kaede certainly wasn’t excited for it, a slightly queasy nervousness settling over her as she prepared to officially lose the trust of her friends and fellow prisoners. She’d already resigned herself to that fate as surely as she had her death before, her hope residing more in the possibility of redeeming herself in their eyes than them putting their faith in her even after all she’d done. Taking a deep breath, she started the referendum. “Okay. If you think I should step down, raise your hand.”

Tsumugi was unsurprisingly the first to raise her hand, with Gundham, Peko, Sakura, and a surprisingly hesitant Leon following suit afterwards. More unexpected then that was the fact that Korekiyo didn’t move, simply observing the others silently. That didn’t go unnoticed by the others, the Ultimate Baseball Star raising an eyebrow at him. “Hey, wait a second, weren’t you just complaining that she covered for Mondo? Doesn’t that mean you think leaving her in charge a bad idea?”

Shinguji let out a tisk, shaking his head lightly. “Perhaps… but, it is not my place to interfere. I don’t feel strongly enough about this to involve myself. I am content to observe either outcome.” The anthropologist hummed, drawing dirty looks from both parties, but he was unphased. 

It wasn’t particularly comforting to Kaede that the only thing keeping her from having nearly half the group against her was essentially Kiyo’s political apathy. _ “He brings up arguments against something, and then just leaves them there for other people to use… is that his way of testing people?” _She thought with some concern. His vote (or lack thereof) wasn’t the only surprise, however. Her eyes drifted to Mondo, the biker’s face hidden behind his hair. If she was being honest, a part of her thought he was going to vote against her. Between his odd behavior that morning and his bitter silence after Celeste’s death, it wouldn’t have surprised her if he resented her for trying to save the gambler. Even if he didn’t, the fact that at least six of the thirteen students left had a problem with her stung considerably. 

After a few more moments, Kaede nodded in acknowledgement. “Alright… if you want me to stay, raise your hand.” She instructed. Kaito, despite still clearly being displeased with the situation, was the first to raise his hand, Kirumi and Gonta quickly following suit. Good to his word, Teruteru joined in with Mikan and Chiaki. Mondo stood still, his arms crossed unflinchingly, but she could feel his eyes scrutinizing her behind the shield of his pompadour. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being analyzed, as if he were studying her for some hint or clue of something she couldn’t identify. After a long moment, he clicked his tongue.

“... Tch. Made a promise, didn’t I?” Mondo murmured, almost like he was reminding himself more of that than anyone else, before he too held up a hand. If he held any reasoning besides their oath, he didn’t bother to mention it, letting his action speak for itself. 

Kaede blinked in surprise, gazing at the biker with a mixture of confusion and gratitude. She truly had no idea what was going on inside Mondo’s head to explain jarring shifts in behavior for him to suddenly side with her after seeming going out of his way to say as little to her as possible earlier. _ “What’s going on with you, Mondo...? I should try to talk to him when I get the chance…” _

Whatever was playing out in Owada’s mind, however, would have to be a question solved another time. “Five votes dissenting, seven approving. It seems the majority favors Kaede.” Kirumi noted, a hint of relief slipping into her intentionally neutral voice. Despite counting the votes herself, Kaede couldn’t help but be taken aback by the turn of events. She’d more or less assumed the night prior that she was at least going to be demoted, yet there was no doubt about the will of the group at large. Blinking in surprise, she somewhat shyly looked to the five that voted against her. 

Tsumugi’s look of surprise lasted for only a handful of moments before it faded to one of bitter, tired resentment, the sort that spoke of a history of being cast aside. The cosplayer caught her eye for a brief moment, narrowing despite the sad glint of betrayal in them, before she looked away entirely. It hurt Kaede more than Shirogane would likely ever know to see the rejection she’d once begged for come to pass.

In contrast, Leon looked almost bashful, grimacing as he once again found himself on the losing end of a group decision. Gundham was visibly unimpressed with their decision, his gaze hardening judgmentally. Sakura merely hummed in thought, bowing her head concedingly. Peko thinned her lips, her eyes as firm as Gundham’s but lacking the negative aura about them. “... Very well. I will respect this decision… unless I’m given further reason to doubt your abilities.”

“Hmph. The blind willingly choose to follow the blind… fine then. If this is the fate you choose, I shall not save us from it. Let us merely hope for all our sakes, Kaede, that your good intentions don’t pave a road of damnation for you to lead us down.” Gundham rumbled, his expression not shifting beyond the bare minimum as he spoke.

Despite the dire warnings in both their words, Kaede didn’t shy away from them. Rather, the maestro turned leader felt an odd sort of reinvigoration. The direct support from some of her friends was certainly a comfort, but hidden under the sharpness of their remarks was a promise of something Kaede never thought she’d have.

A second chance. 

The moment she realized Rantaro wasn’t the mastermind, she knew she could never make amends for what she’d done. Death was the only thing left for her, especially after her second plan failed as spectacularly as the first. As broken as that left her, she’d made peace with it, even as she was dragged off to the gallows. Here, however?

Here, she was alive. She had time, with no immediate promise of death looming over her with every tick of the clock. There was no taking back the fact that she’d killed Rantaro, no matter what that stupid video said, but what she _ could _ make up for was the wrongs she did here and now. _ That _ was what she was being offered, and it wasn’t something she would let go to waste. “I won’t. I promise. I don’t blame you if you don't have much faith in me, but I swear, I’ll do everything I can to prove myself to you all. I won’t let this be a mistake.”

“See that you follow through on that.” Peko advised seriously, drawing a solemn nod from her leader. 

Before Kaede could say anything, though, she suddenly found herself pulled into a side-hug by the Ultimate Astronaut. “Of course she will! No one can fail when Kaito Momota is backing them!” He proudly declared. Kaede couldn’t suppress the small smile that came to her, half-born of light embarrassment and half of genuinely appreciating the gesture. Peko gave him a flat look, but didn’t vocally object to the statement, letting a slightly tense but agreeable silence fall upon the room. After a moment, Kaito broke off the hug, planting his hand on his hip. “So, is there anything else we need to talk about?”

“... There is something we would be remiss not to talk about,” Kirumi brought up somewhat reluctantly. Glancing towards her, it was clear to see the maid’s gaze was focused on one particular person. “Mister Owada… regarding your actions last night-”

“Look,” Mondo instantly interrupted, a scowl on his face as he finally looked up and towards Tojo. “I ain’t gonna make excuses for what happened. I fucked up, and I coulda fucked up a whole lot worse than I did if I wasn’t lucky. But I’ve got nothing left to lose here or out there, and the only people I had a problem with here are already dead. There’s no reason for me to try to kill someone, so if that’s where you’re going with this, don’t bother.”

The maid stared at him quietly, her emerald eye scrutinizing him intently. “... I certainly hope that’s true,” She said neutrally, her gaze slowly shifting to Kaede and softening slightly. “Kaede…”

“I believe in him,” Kaede announced before her friend could try to dissuade her from anything. “And I’m going to live up to our promise, no matter what.”

“That’s right. Besides, his mistakes are my mistakes, so any problems you have, take them up with me!” Momota backed up, and with that, the line of discussion effectively came to a close. Whether the rest of the group was actually okay with that or simply didn’t want to bother arguing with the two stubbornest people on the ship wasn’t clear, but either was acceptable in Kaede’s opinion, as she refused to budge on this.

Once a few moments passed, Kaede let out a small breath, suddenly finding it much easier to breathe. “Okay. Is there anything else we should say?”

“Yes indeed! In fact, there’s something that’s been _ bear _-ing on my mind all morning!”

A wave of groans and a couple shrieks rang out as Monokuma suddenly popped down from the ceiling directly onto Kaede’s table. Mikan was among the latter, the girl pitifully flinching back so hard that her chair fell backwards and left her spiraling out on the floor. Kaito and Mondo were far less fearful, both openly glowering at him with clenched fists. Kaede didn’t pay much mind to them, however, as the bear was just about eye-level with her as she spun around to face him. “What do you want?” She snapped hatefully, an untold loathing filling her the instant she heard the mascot’s voice.

Monokuma put a paw to his chest in offense. “Geez! You take that kind of tone for me when I come _ bear _-ing gifts?! How rude! Kids these days have no respect!”

“Knock it off with the stupid puns!” Leon shouted from the back, but no one cared.

Kaede quirked an eyebrow, though her glare didn’t relent in the slightest. “Gifts? What do you mean by that?” She demanded. Surely he wasn’t handing out another motive already, was he?

“Well, technically, I only have one gift on me. You’ll get the others soon,” He conceded with a shrug, before grinning broadly. “Buuut, I DO have something for you! Behold!”

With that, he presented a staggeringly large golden key, about the length of her arm and half that size tall. The handle of it was a royal purple circle with a large golden M in front of it. All in all, it was horrendously gaudy, looking more like something out of a cartoon than an actual functioning key. Kaede didn’t reach out to take it, instead crossing her arms in suspicion. “Um… what exactly is that?”

“It’s a key!” He unhelpfully proclaimed.

“No shit. What’s it a key to?” Mondo demanded bluntly, sneering at the bear.

Despite not shifting expressions in the slightest, Monokuma’s smile somehow seemed to become ominous. “Why, it’s a key to **the truths of your killing games**.”

“H-huh…?”

And just like that, the floodgates opened.

“The truths of our games?”

“The fuck are you talking about?!”

“Is he talking about our memories?!”

A torrent of questions poured forth from the gathered blackened, every soul in the room straightening up at Monokuma’s startling words. Kaede could hardly hear her own alarmed thoughts as she stared at the animatronic like a deer in headlights. The sheer magnitude of what he said finally snapped her back to her senses as she shoved a finger towards Monokuma demandingly. “Th-that doesn’t make any sense! What are you talking about?!”

He giggled in her face, making the blonde’s blood boil in indignation. “Puhuhuhu! That’s the question, isn’t it? Why did the killing games happen? Who lived? _ Did _anyone live? What happened to your beloved friends and family on the outside?” He rattled off, sounding more menacingly taunting with each question. “If you wanna know, you guys should head up to the third deck pronto! The answers to all these questions and more might be waiting!

“Bastard…! Don’t go around saying crap like that!” Kaito growled, clearly wanting to tear into Monokuma yet unable to entirely reject the information almost literally being dangled in front of his face. He shoved a hand out impatiently. “Hurry up and hand it over!”

Monokuma jerked the key away with a glare. “Hey, who says it’s for you, grabby?! Side characters don’t get important stuff like this!”

“S-side character?!” Kaito balked in horrified outrage.

Ignoring the sputtering astronaut, Monokuma smiled at Kaede, holding out the key. “Since you’re apparently Little Miss Popular among this rowdy bunch of psychos, congrats! This key is now your responsibility!” He mockingly praised. Kaede grit her teeth, wanting nothing more than to punch the bastard robot in the face... but, she couldn’t deny that her interest was piqued. Motive or not, she _ had _ to know what happened to Kanda, her dad, Shuichi, and so many others. If this was her shot at learning that, then… she begrudgingly accepted the key. He smirked, giving her a little salute. “There we go! Now, be a good protagonist and get to solving this mystery! I’ll be watching!”

“I hope it bores you,” She spat out, only incurring a delighted laugh from her captor as he hopped off the table and vanished without a trace. In the heavy silence that followed his departure, Kaede could only let out a weary sigh, looking at the others with a growing sense of dread. With that dread, however, was the firm pressure of responsibility that gave her the courage to press forward. “... Well, everyone… I won’t lie; I don’t really trust this. But... I think we should do it, at least so we know what it is.”

Peko nodded. “I doubt we’d have much of a choice anyway, given Monokuma, but I agree. If this is a motive, it’s best we are all aware of it and understand it so there’s no surprises.”

Similar assessments followed, no one particularly wanting to go along with whatever Monokuma had planned, but none willing to refuse him outright. With a universal agreement to go, Kaede quietly drew a breath as she nodded. “Alright. If we’re all ready, then… come on, everyone! Let’s face this head on!” Kaede inspiringly declared, pumping her arms to instill a confidence in everyone she didn’t quite feel herself. It seemed to work at least a little, drawing a few nods of support from the crowd as they collectively took the first steps towards the mysterious third deck. She didn’t know what to expect once they got there, or how she’d prove herself to the people she’d let down, but she still walked with strength in her stride.

Kaede would become the leader they needed, and the road to that started here.

***

The long trek through the halls was a fairly silent one. The odd bit of chatter sounded off occasionally, but it was never more than two or three people at a time, most of the students leaving each other to their thoughts. Kaede had attempted to strike up a conversation with Mondo a couple times, but it didn’t go very well, the biker’s responses being short and vague at best and pure silence at worst. The fact that he wasn’t snapping at her was hopefully a sign that he wasn’t angry at her for one reason or another, but it disappointed her that he was being so taciturn. Whatever was on his mind, he wasn’t sharing any time soon, Owada awkwardly hovering halfway between the front and middle of the group without saying a word. Still, the silence wasn’t entirely unwelcome. At least it meant no one said anything when she took them down the opposite hallway from the one that led to her lab.

When they finally reached the end of the second deck, sure enough, the imposing metal shutter that not even the combined strength of eight of them could lift was magically gone, allowing free access to the level above. Kaede pushed past the odd sense of annoyance that gave her and simply walked up the stairwell.

Once they were upstairs, the first thing Kaede noticed was the drastic change in color scheme. While the first and second deck had distinguished yellow walls and blue carpeting that gave the impression of a ritzy hotel, this deck opted for a more royal design. Flashy red carpeting with gold accents replaced the blue of previous levels, the wallpaper shifting to a harshly bright, sterile white that looked almost like marble. It was more subdued than the other design, yet had an almost imposing aura to it, like walking in a castle or the like. The contrast kind of hurt her eyes a little, but that wasn’t what Kaede was paying attention to.

The layout of the corridor itself was the more interesting aspect of it. Aside from some massive porthole windows that even Sakura could comfortably stand in lining the right side of the hall, and what looked like another shutter barring the stairs at the opposite end of the hall, there weren’t any doors in sight. It was as straight and wide as the corridor on the first deck, but with none of the multitude of rooms, leaving nothing but an annoyingly long and narrow hallway with an eyesore of a design. 

It took nearly ten minutes of walking -and complaining from the more impatient members of the group- before they finally came across something. In the middle of the hall to their left was a single tall, rectangular structure. It bore the same color scheme as the key Monokuma gave her, a royal purple design spanning about the size of a small stage entirely trimmed with gold. In the center of it was an odd hole that revealed more of the marble white behind the design. Kaede held the tawdry-looking key in front of her to find that, sure enough, the hole was a perfect outline of the key. “Hmm… I guess this is what we’re looking for.”

“About damn time…” Mondo grumbled irritably.

“Is this really the place, though? Doesn’t it seem kind of underwhelming for how much Monokuma was building it up?” Tsumugi idly pondered.

Leon scowled, crossing his arms. “I’m not dragging my ass all the way down the hall just to find out it is.”

“... Is this a jest? We ventured far and wide for a mere infant’s puzzle?” Gundham bitterly demanded, clearly displeased by the apparent letdown of a reveal.

“What does it matter what it looks like? It’s clearly where the key goes. Anything else is irrelevant.” Peko dismissed.

Teruteru rubbed at his chin. “In that case, maybe we should hurry up and thrust in?”

Kaede nodded. “Yeah, I think- ugh,” She huffed in annoyance, shooting a glare at the smirking chef before shaking her head. “_ Anyway, _ we won’t find out anything just standing here. We might as well…” Akamatsu murmured as she somewhat cautiously walked up to the anomaly and held the key up, sliding it into place with a small _ click _. 

For a long moment, nothing happened. Kaede furrowed her brow, staring at it in incomprehension. “... Is it broken?” She wondered aloud. 

The moment those words left her mouth, a dull buzzing sounded off as the M on the key suddenly began spinning in place, becoming faster and faster with each passing moment before just as abruptly stopping with a high pitched _ bing _. The rectangle quickly slid into the ground to reveal a darkened stage behind it, and soon after that, a spotlight came on to reveal Monokuma standing in front of a set of white and black curtains. The bear was dressed in a large orange tophat and a long purple coat with a plaid shirt of a lighter shade underneath, the outfit topped off with an oversized yellow bowtie and a purple cane. “Ah, welcome, welcome! I was starting to get worried you guys wouldn’t make it in time!”

“In time? In time for what? And what the hell are you wearing?” Kaede asked, as confused by the statement as she was his ridiculous getup.

Monokuma twirled the cane in his paw with a grin. “Why, for the grand reveal, of course! Hit it!” He called out, and a moment later, a jaunty tune began to play. He bounced up and down on the cane in time with the music, and after a moment, began to sing.

_ “What if there was a place designed all by Monokuma? _

_ Wouldn't that be the drear-drear-dreariest place in all the world?” _

The curtains behind him pulled away, revealing a number of small animatronic dolls. There were fourteen of them in total, many in some variant of a brown and white school uniform Kaede didn’t recognize, though one seemed to be wearing a large yellow hoodie of some sort. They joined in the song as well with tinny, robotic voices.

_ “Where everyone's a killer _

_ And felonies run free, _

_ Life plays just like a thriller, _

_ It's quite a sight to see!” _

_ “... What.” _Was the only thing that came to Kaede’s mind. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. No, scratch that, she had no idea _what_ the hell she was looking at. Kaede gave a confused glance to either side of her if only to confirm whether or not she was having a stroke right now. The others thankfully looked just as baffled as she felt, with even the more composed among them at an absolute loss, Korekiyo and Peko in particular looking almost comical in how badly their puzzlement clashed with their usual inexpressiveness. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or concerned that yes, Monokuma was in fact singing and dancing in front of them right now.

Monokuma and his robots kept singing and dancing on for nearly two minutes, the bear gleefully performing his musical number as his literal captive audience looked on in sheer bewilderment. Kaede decided early on to simply tune the song out for the sake of her sanity, hoping the whole thing would be over sooner if she didn’t pay attention to it. 

About halfway through the song, the background animatronics seemed to turn on each other and started fighting, leaving an increasingly large body count of sparking and dismembered dolls even as the surviving ones continued to sing. At long last, the song reached its closing crescendo, with only Monokuma and one doll left functional on the stage.

_ “So enjoy the games and rides and homicides _

_ Where merriment and death collide, _

_ Where human life just has no worth _

_ The most despairing place on Earth _

_ Felony Funland _ _ ! _ _ ” _

Monokuma swung his arms back dramatically as he jumped forward, unintentionally decapitating the remaining robot with his cane. What caught everyone’s attention, however, was the fact that just as he finished singing those final words, the wall on either side of the stage and behind it suddenly toppled backwards like cardboard cutouts in a massive cacophony of noise. In its place just behind Monokuma shot up a large golden gate, and behind it...

… was a massive theme park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys don't mind a bit of a cooldown chapter. After the excitement of the trial, we figured something relatively chill and lighthearted would be a nice change of pace. Don't worry, though; as Monokuma so helpfully revealed, we've got a brand new area to explore, and trust us, it's gonna be a fun one. Shoutout to the first person who picks up on all the references during Monokuma's song! Also, a shoutout to whoever made a TV Tropes page for this story! It's pretty empty at the moment, but appreciated all the same! https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/DanganronpaBlackenedSkies
> 
> Side note: Would you guys be interested in having a Discord server for this story? It'd basically just be a place to hang out, have discussions on this story or DR in general, art, memes, etc. Pretty cookie cutter stuff. There's been some interest expressed, but I figured it'd be best to ask you guys directly. If it does get made, though, we'd still love to see your comments here on the site so that future readers can see your thoughts as the story progresses. Let us know, and we'll respond accordingly! :D
> 
> -MrCynical
> 
> B̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶k̶i̶d̶d̶i̶n̶g̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶i̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶a̶n̶s̶o̶m̶ ̶d̶e̶m̶a̶n̶d̶s̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶a̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶I̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶.̶ Shush.
> 
> -̶C̶S̶p̶r̶a̶t̶t̶


	20. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felony Funland, unexpected arrivals, and some dark truths, are revealed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks to the day! Is this the beginning of an actual update schedule? A fluke? Who knows. All I can say is that we're really getting into the swing of Chapter 2 now, so we hope you enjoy!
> 
> -MrCynical

At first, no one said anything, the sheer shock of what they’d just observed leaving them speechless. All they could do was stare at the dazzling lights and unmistakable outlines of carnival attractions, the distant sounds of rides operating and jovial music humming over far-off speakers. Seconds passed without a word from anyone until Mondo eloquently summed up what was on everyone’s minds. “... What the fuck?!”

Monokuma tilted his head to the side. “What, did you not like the song? Geez. Everyone’s a critic these days!”

“Wh- screw the song, man! What the hell is that?!” Leon sputtered, flailing his hand towards the unbelievable sight behind the bear. Monokuma scowled, dropping his showman’s pose to cross his arms at the athlete.

“Seriously? I made an entire musical number explaining what this place is, and you’re still asking me that?!” He demanded incredulously.

“... I fell asleep after the first few notes…” Chiaki admitted, the bleary look in her eye confirming the rather improbable claim.

Sensing an opportunity to stick it to the bear, Kaede decided to chime in. “You didn’t miss much. It was terrible.”

“_ Terrible?! _ ” Monokuma growled out, popping his claws out in offense. “What do _ you _know about music?!”

“I’m the Ultimate Pianist.” Kaede retorted with a flat tone and even flatter look.

Monokuma opened his monstrous jaw to fire back, but after a moment, the only sound that left it was a long, overdramatic sigh as he slowly shook his head. “... Whatever. The point being, my dear blackened, is that _ that _ ,” He swung the cane to point at the festival behind him. “Is **Felony Funland**, the world’s first at-sea theme park!”

“Wait, seriously?! It really is a theme park?!” Kaito butted in, looking _ way _ more excited by that idea than he should. He almost looked like a little kid.

“Yes indeed! Through a miracle of engineering and a little bit of magic from yours truly, the Despair of the Seas is proud to present an amusement experience like no other! It has everything you could ever want in a park; rigged games, knick knack prizes you get bored with after an hour, overpriced food, rides operated by people who would be just as happy to get hit by the thing as they would to ride it themselves, and all with a wonderful Monokuma twist! Since the trial was such a doozy, I wanted to reward you guys by giving you the first glimpse of the place before it launches worldwide!” 

Tsumugi rubbed at her chin in contemplation. “A theme park inside a prison? I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere else…”

“Who gives a shit about that?!” Mondo snarled, raising a fist towards the headmaster from where he stood. “You said that key had to do with our games! The hell does some shitty park have to do with that?!”

“Well, everything!” Monokuma replied with a smile, stunning the anger out of him.

“Huh…? What are you talking about?” The biker questioned, baffled. Everyone else stayed silent, anxious to hear the bear’s explanation.

Monokuma’s smile grew, clearly enjoying the fact that he’d drawn them all into his ploy. “See, that’s part of what makes Felony Funland what it is: it’s entirely themed around the killing games! Those prizes and rides I mentioned? Well, there might just be some clues about what your buddies got up to after you all bit the bullet mixed in with them, or maybe your missing memories! Or, for those whose lives don’t revolve around school, what’s been going on with your loved ones and the **outside world**!” The animatronic gleefully declared, his previous game-show tone taking on a sadistic edge to it that sent shivers down Kaede’s spine. “Everything I promised you can be found right here within the confines of Felony Funland!”

Kirumi narrowed her eyes, her lips pressed in a thin frown. “And if we wish to find them, we have to explore the park, correct?”

“You’ve got it! Luckily for you guys, admission is absolutely free for murderers! After all, it’s dirty criminals like you that put the felony in Felony Funland!”

“You’re despicable, you know that?” Kaede hissed, clenching her fists tightly against her sides.

Monokuma had the gall to look offended at that. “For letting you guys into my five-star park for absolutely free? Geez! Last time I’m being nice to you, Miss Akamatsu!” He huffed, putting a paw on each hip as he scolded her. He seemed to get over it almost instantly, though, as he quickly gave a shrug. “Oh well! One way or another, you guys have to check the place out, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Sakura stepped forward as she spoke. “If that’s the case, then we should get this over with as soon as we can. I’m getting tired of Monokuma’s prattling.”

Korekiyo embraced himself with a soft hum. “I must admit, I am curious to see what an amusement park designed by someone so twisted would look like. I too would like to begin our investigation.”

It was only a couple moments before the majority of the group was with Kaede in front of the gate, the blonde taking her own step forward to lead the group in, only for Monokuma to throw his paws in the air warningly. “Hey, wait a second! Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Did you not just say that our desires await past this gate? Where we are going should be obvious to even the dullest of sinners.” Gundham shot back as if the bear were a complete idiot.

Kaede nodded, crossing her arms. “Yeah! You said we had to explore this place, so just go away and let us do it already!”

Her words didn’t phase the monochrome monster, however, who refused to move out of their way. “Absolutely not! You guys are invited, as in _ guests _! You aren’t just going to trounce around like you own the place! Every theme park has some way of verifying their guests, and Felony Funland is no different!”

Kaede narrowed her eyes in a harsh glare, her patience for Monokuma’s antics rapidly running out. “Verify? What does that- nevermind. Can you just hurry up and do whatever you’re going to do so we can get a move on?”

The bear sadly lowered his head, kicking at the floor. “Geez… you kids really hurt my feelings sometimes, you know?” He lamented with a sigh. It didn’t take much for him to perk up, however, as he soon looked up at them with a smirk. “Alrighty, but you guys might want to stand back…” He cautioned before he reached into his coat and pulled out the same button he had after restoring their memories, Kaede trying her best to ignore the shot of fear that spiked through her at the device uncomfortably similar to the ones preceding an execution. The teens shared an uneasy glance amongst themselves before they reluctantly complied, moving about ten feet back in total. As soon as he pressed it, a high-pitched beep rang out from above moments before a large crate bearing Monokuma’s face dropped from the ceiling. The animatronic casually strolled over to it and tapped the box rhythmically, and the crate fell away to reveal what looked to be a box office that now stood directly beside the operating part of the gate. “Tada! See? What park would be complete without a ticket booth?”

“Great. Now hurry up and give us the tickets or whatever.” Akamatsu demanded bluntly.

Monokuma vehemently shook his head. “No way! Do I look like the sort of bear that works a dead-end job like that?! No, I’m not giving you tickets! _ They _ are!”

_ “‘They’? Who is he talking abo-” _

** _“RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!”_ **

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me…” Kaede hissed out, a headache instantly forming at the obnoxious sound of five blaring voices. She could hear similar disgruntled groans from a handful of the others that knew the hell that awaited them, their mutual frustration only serving to worsen her mood. 

Despite her meager hopes to the contrary, however, a certain set of infuriatingly annoying animatronics appeared out of nowhere as they shot up in front of their so-called father. Monodam, Monosuke, Monotaro, Monophanie, and Monokid landed already posing like it was some sort of stunt show, the self-proclaimed Monokubs grinning at the group of annoyed/startled teens. “Never fear, the Monokubs are here!” Monotaro proudly declared, only to get an elbow in the side from his yellow brother. “Ow! What was that for?”

“That’s not the line, ya idiot,” Monosuke chided in a poor attempt at a stage whisper. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Quiver in fear, the Monokubs are here!’”

“Huh? But isn’t that a bad guy line?”

Monophanie tilted her head to the side slightly. “Um, I’m pretty sure _ we’re _ the bad guys, Monotaro…”

“Oh, right,” He said lamely, scratching at his head with his shirokin before clearing his throat. “Quiver in fear! The Monokubs are here!”

Despite their banter, most of the group reacted with fear rather than the exasperation Kaede and her comrades felt at the unwelcome return of Monokuma’s children. “Wh-what the hell?! There’s more of him?!” Leon called out, flinching back from the robots with eyes the sizes of dinner plates.

Peko already had her hand on her sword, her glasses glinting dangerously as she readied herself for a fight. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“What, you got shit in your ears or somethin’? We’re the Monokubs!” Monokid crassly called back in annoyance.

“I had thought you weren’t on this ship. How truly unfortunate…” Kiyo growled in thinly veiled annoyance.

Mondo turned towards the anthropologist in surprise. “Huh? Wait, do you know these assholes?”

“Unfortunately, yes. If anything, I’m more surprised none of you seem to. Monokuma was quite insistent on involving his children during our game…” Kirumi noted with a faint scowl.

Kaito grit his teeth, openly glowering at the bears. “Oh, come on! Aren’t you supposed to be dead?!”

“Hey, people in stone houses shouldn’t throw glass!”

“It’s the other way around!”

“Who cares?! I’m just settin’ that punkass straight!”

_ Jesus Christ _, Kaede forgot how much she hated the Monokubs. Her head was pounding after less than a minute of these obnoxious jerks showing up, and after the day she had yesterday and that morning, she was in no mood to deal with their idiocy any longer. “Would you just shut up already?!” She shouted out, taking an aggressive step towards the kubs.

“Eep! She’s scary when she’s mad!” Monophanie pitifully cried out, flinching violently under the musician’s harsh gaze.

Monosuke shook his head. “She’s right though; we are WAY off script here. We don’t get back on topic soon, Pops is gonna start gettin’ angry.”

Monokuma’s red eye glowed ominously. “And you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you, my dear children?”

“N-no!” They each fearfully cried out with their own variant to address their father, quickly shaking their heads. Kaede’s fingers dug into her arms uncomfortably as she crossed them, desperately wishing they’d finish up this ridiculous act already. Monotaro took the lead. “P-please proceed to the ticket booth to receive your varination-”

“VERIFICATION.” Monodam flatly corrected, only to go entirely ignored by the other cubs.

“-and then proceed into the park in an orderly fashion!”

“Or knock someone to the ground and trample the fuck outta ‘em!” Monokid cheerfully added.

Monophanie yelped in horror. “Please don’t! That’d be so gross and gorey and- _ urgh- _”

“Fuck this,” Mondo scoffed out with a sneer, shoving his hands in his pockets as he pushed past the others and towards the ticket booth. He cast the group a sideways glance once he noticed none of them were following. “You guys coming, or are ya seriously gonna watch this bullshit?”

Having once again become the voice of the people, they didn’t have to be told twice, Kaede nodding tersely and following along after him. The Monokubs kept bantering in the background, but she’d go crazy if she kept paying attention to their antics, so she was more than happy to just ignore them as best she could. She’d ended up second in line behind the Ultimate Biker as they waited for the bears to finally do their apparent job, the boy clamming up in her presence. She felt her lips tug downward in concerned disappointment. He’d been conversing with everyone else just fine, yet whenever she was near, he’d suddenly become cagey. She didn’t want to press and possibly push him farther away, but at this point, it was becoming too worrisome to ignore. Whatever problem he had, it clearly involved her somehow, which meant it was up to her to fix it.

Kaede took a few moments to think about how exactly she should try getting him to open up, ultimately deciding that a light joke might be the best route. Putting on a small smirk, she teased, “You know, I thought it was supposed to be ladies first for this sort of thing…”

“Huh…? Oh, shit,” Mondo grumbled under his breath, thinning his lips as he stepped aside. “Go ahead.”

_ “Chivalrous as always, huh?” _She thought with a small giggle, shaking her head. “Just kidding, Mondo. You can go first if you want.”

Owada actually looked a little embarrassed, looking down at his feet with a slight grimace. “Tch… no, you. Only a prick would help himself before a chick.”

“If you insist…” Kaede replied with a small shrug as she complied. _ “Okay, so he’s not mad at me enough to break his honor code, but he clearly isn’t comfortable, either… is he feeling guilty about… _ ** _what happened_ ** _ ?” _ She looked him up and down for any hint of what he was thinking. He still wasn’t quite looking at her, though that discomfort could have come from a lot of things. Likewise, he kept his hands in his pockets, but he was otherwise rather hard to read at the moment. Given her skill at understanding people and Mondo’s usually expressive nature, it was pretty surprising, but that just meant she’d have to be a little more direct. “... Hey, Mondo? I know you already said earlier, but are you sure you’re alright? You’ve been acting a little different this morning.”

His lilac eyes shot up to hers, widening a touch, but he didn’t look away this time. His gaze shifted from surprise to something more scrutinizing, his jaw tensing a touch as he searched for something unknown. Before either had the chance to say anything, however, a third party impolitely butted in. “Hey, lovebirds! Either make googly eyes at each other somewhere else or hurry up! My time’s money, and you’re wastin’ it!” Monosuke crassly rasped out from the ticket booth, his paws on his hips as he glowered at them.

“L-lovebirds?!” Kaede sputtered out in shock, feeling her face warm a touch at the accusation.

Mondo looked even more scandalized by the taunt, his face turning a dangerous shade of red as he raised a fist. “You wanna lose some teeth, motherfucker?!”

It was impossible to tell without irises, but Kaede had the distinct feeling he was rolling his eyes as he sarcastically raised his paws in the air. “Ooh, real scary, buddy. Now, do ya want your tickets or not?”

Kaede glowered at the bear, aggravated that he ruined her shot at getting Owada to open up, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. _ “Shoot. Well, at least I know for sure something’s up with him now. I’ll have to try sometime else, I guess…” _ She thought dourly as she stepped up to the window.

Monosuke reached under the counter and pulled out two items: a ticket emblazoned with the words Felony Funland in a fancy font, and a black and white bracelet. He handed the bracelet to her first. “This here is your verification pass to the park. Any attraction you wanna do, you’re gonna have to flash this baby at it first to get on. Got it?” He explained as Kaede suspiciously examined the ugly-looking bangle before reluctantly putting it on with a nod. She didn’t like how he smirked at that, but frankly, the less time she had to spend thinking about the Monokubs, the better. “Good. Here’s your ticket. Have fun at the park, and make sure ya keep your wallet open. I get a slice of every dime youse spend durin’ my shift.”

Akamatsu didn’t bother dignifying him with a response, silently rolling her eyes as she stepped aside towards the gate and waited for the others to get their bracelets. Mondo frustratingly kept his distance after getting his pass, glancing at her occasionally, but otherwise using the distraction to escape from their conversation. A glance around proved the other Monokubs had disappeared while Monokuma stood patiently by the gate humming that stupid song to himself. Not wanting to waste her time on a conversation with her demented headmaster, she tried studying some of the park from where she stood. It wasn’t easy to make out much, but she could see a ferris wheel with Monokuma’s face towering above everything else in sight. Tents and stands of various shapes, sizes, and colors littered much of the area around it, implying a fair bit to examine in the apparent center of the park in addition to the distant colorful lights going both left and right with the promise of other attractions. _ “This place is huge...! How did he even build something like this on a ship?” _

It didn’t take too long for everyone to get what they needed, Kaede crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at Monokuma. “Okay, _ now _ can we go in?”

“Puhuhu! Well, aren’t you eager!” He taunted with a smirk. “Not quite, though. Y’see, there’s one teensey little detail my adorable cubs and I forgot to mention. Those bracelets of yours? Well… **they don’t come off**.”

Kaede’s eyes bulged out in alarm. “Huh?! What are you-?!”

She just barely heard a faint _ snkt _, and instantly, her wrist exploded into pain.

“** _AHHH!_ **” Kaede screeched out, her other hand flying to her wrist on instinct. The pain was already shifting from excruciating to merely unpleasant, but a sharp stinging was still angrily flaring up where the bracelet was attached. Her first instinct was to try to rip it off, but much to her dismay, it didn’t so much as budge from its vice grip on her wrist. If anything, it felt like it got tighter until she let go of the thing, gritting her teeth and tightly squeezing just beneath the traitorous bangle to try to alleviate the throbbing sensation. 

The sharp hisses, yelps, and cries of pain around her made it clear she wasn’t the only one that felt that. Even the toughest among them weren’t unphased, neither the Ultimate Swordswoman nor the Ultimate Martial Artist able to fully hide their winces, though their anger quickly replaced it. “What did you do?” Peko growled warningly, her left hand clenched to a ghostly white color while her other once again flew to her sword.

Monokuma shrugged, looking far too pleased with their distress. “Oh, nothing much! I just made it so you won’t be taking these things off and losing them somewhere! There’s nothing worse than paying for tickets to a world-class amusement park only for the brats to lose their visitor’s bangle and get kicked out! So, being the gracious host I am, I made sure that wouldn’t be a problem!”

“Are you joking?! You just stabbed us in the wrist!” Kaito bellowed out angrily, shaking his fist at the bear through grit teeth.

“Well, duh! It’s not gonna go anywhere if it’s lodged in your arm, now is it?” Monokuma mocked in a tone more fit for lecturing a particularly dumb child.

“B-b-but it hurts!” Mikan cried out tearfully, holding up her wrist with her other hand as if to prove that to the bear.

“Good, that means it’s nice and firmly in place!”

Kaede’s eyes burned into the stuffed animal with an anger only he seemed capable of bringing out in her. “Take these off right now! I don’t know what you’re playing at, Monokuma, but you’re going to regret it!”

He put his paws on his hips with a huff. “Geez, you guys really are deaf! I already told you; it’s basic policy for the park! Maybe if you listened instead of complaining, you’d have heard me!”

“Then why exactly must they latch _ into _ our wrists instead of simply lock around them?” Kirumi questioned, masking her discomfort well behind her stoic veneer.

Monokuma giggled to himself. “Oh, I have my reasons…”

Gundham let out a noise that sounded more like an animal than a man. “Vile beast! You dare puncture the flesh of the Supreme Overlord of Ice?! You know not the poison that flows within these veins!”

“It’s funny you should say that! That’s actually **part of why you’re wearing them**!”

A pregnant pause settled over the aggravated teens, none of them sure what he meant but instantly wary nonetheless. “... What do you mean by that?” Korekiyo questioned, only the slightest hint of unease in his voice.

Monokuma beamed at them all in absolute delight. “Why, that’s actually pretty simple! You see, because of **one other reason** I’ll reveal in due time, it’s veeeery important that these bracelets stay on. Sooo… if you try to take them off too much, you’ll be **injected with poison and die**!”

Kaede’s blood turned to ice in her veins. “Wh-what?!”

“You no can be serious!” Gonta cried out, the gentle giant startling back in fear.

Shirogane’s face took on a shade of blue not dissimilar to her hair. “A theme park with lethal injection?! This really is like some sick wonderland!”

“Ahahahaha! That’s right, kiddos! Until either you die or the next murder happens, you’re all going to be wearing those lovely little bangles! Trying otherwise will just get you killed sooner and anticlimactically, so try not to have a boring death like that, would ya?”

“... What is your end here, Monokuma?” Sakura demanded, her voice low and eyes dark. “Junko’s death proved you can kill us whenever you want. What purpose does this serve?”

Monokuma waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, you’ll find out sooner or later. For now, let’s put the foreshadowing aside and move onto something much more interesting: the park itself!” He spun his cane and pointed it at the gate. “Open Sesame!”

On cue, the large golden entrance slowly swung open, officially allowing them into the park. Monokuma looked back at them and tipped his tophat. “Well, I’m off, but I hope you all have a happily homicidal time here at Felony Funland! See you later!”

He once again disappeared from sight, leaving the group of blackened alone to do as they would. Kaede looked back to face the others, taking in their reactions. Dismay was apparent in all of them, some looking furious while others paled with fear and the rest somewhere in between, but not a soul was unaffected. “... Wh-what do we do now…?” Mikan asked whimperingly, turning to Kaede for guidance. The blonde’s magenta eyes trailed down to the band around her own wrist, grimacing at the uncomfortable pressure its hold put on her physically and mentally. If she were being honest, it would be hard to deny she felt just as panicked as everyone else after suddenly being marked for death, but she fought with all her might to hide at least some of that fear as she spoke.

“... I don’t know what Monokuma’s trying to do, but this doesn’t change anything. He said we have to explore the park… and we can’t refuse, no matter how much we want to,” She sighed, thinning her lips at the deathtrap firmly attached to her. “We don’t really have a choice. So… let’s just try to get this over with as soon as possible.”

Sakura looked far from pleased, but nodded. “Agreed. If this is our only way forward, then we are bound to take it.”

“She’s right. Levels with forced debuffs aren’t good… but you still have to do them.” Chiaki added softly.

Between the three of them, the group didn’t need any further convincing, the teens gradually stepping forward into the park and splintering off to start exploring. Most split into pairs while some of the more reclusive students wandered on their own, but the group was scattering throughout the new area all the same. The only stragglers were herself, Kaito, Leon, and Mondo, the Ultimate Astronaut looking at the place ahead with confliction. “I always wanted to go to a theme park, but I never thought I’d be _ forced _ to go to one. Why does that damn bear have to make everything so complicated?”

Kaede crossed her arms, careful to avoid bumping her bracelet on accident. “It’s about the only thing he’s good for…” She grumbled pettily, before shaking her head with a small smile. “But… I do like places like this. Maybe it won’t be too terrible.”

Momota perked up a bit at that. “You’re right. Let’s stick it to Monokuma and enjoy this place!” He proudly proclaimed, slamming his fists together. He grimaced slightly, the impact apparently jostling his cufflet a little, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. “Well, are you guys ready? C’mon, sidekicks, let’s check this place out!”

Just as Kaede was about to accept, however, Leon surprisingly spoke up. “Actually, hold up a second. Hey, Kaito? Could we hang for a bit?”

Kaito beamed at him. “Sure thing! I’m sure the four of us can get this place done in no time!”

The Ultimate Baseball star grimaced, shooting an uneasy glance at the musician and the biker. “Uh… I kinda meant just us.”

Kaede bit her cheek to keep from frowning. That… wasn’t surprising at all, to be honest. Leon was already one of the more distrusting students in the class, and she’d given him ample reason to be wary of her and Mondo less than a day ago. It still hurt to be rejected like that though, even if this was probably the nicest he’d been about it of all their botched encounters. She wouldn’t express as much, however. He had a right to be mad, and frankly, the fact that he was still willing to approach Kaito was probably the best she should expect from him right now. If he was willing to try getting closer to Kaito despite his involvement in her lie, maybe he could warm up to them, too.

Kaito didn’t see it that way. “Huh…? Oh, don’t be like that, man! They’re cool! C’mon, hang with us for a while and you’ll see!”

Kuwata frowned, shaking his head. “Look, I’m not gonna pretend I’m totally cool with everything you guys did, but that’s not what this is about. There’s just some stuff I wanna talk to you about in private. Alright?” He asked with a sigh, looking off to the side. It was clear to see something was on his mind, but whatever that something was, an audience wasn’t appreciated.

The lavender-haired man once again looked torn, his interest clearly piqued by the baseball star’s request yet also not wanting to ditch his so-called sidekicks. Kaede herself was curious about it. _ “Whatever it is, we’re not the reason he wants to be alone with Kaito…? What’s he thinking about? It must be pretty serious to… he… he couldn’t be getting him alone to…” _ Kaede pinched herself, just barely resisting the urge to slap her forehead. “ _ God, of course not! He wouldn’t ask him in front of other people if he wanted to do _ ** _that_ ** _ … a-and he wouldn’t do something so horrible anyways!” _She scolded herself, wishing she could believe the latter as much as the former. Trying to shove that dark thought out of her mind, she offered her help to the pair. “It’s alright, Kaito. You two can hang out. If there’s anything worth doing in there, we can come back later and do it together.”

Mondo didn’t say anything to back her up, but he didn’t object, either.

Kaito looked at her, his look of surprise gradually shifting to one of relief. “Alright. I’ll be counting on you guys, so make sure you find something cool, okay?”

She managed a smile and a wave. “You bet! Have fun, guys!”

The Ultimate Astronaut flashed her a grin and a thumbs up before turning towards the gate, beckoning Leon to join him as they wandered off to parts unknown. As their footsteps faded away into the general din of the park, she let her eyes wander to the last member of the group remaining. 

Mondo was leaning against the gate with his arms crossed, looking towards the flashing lights and colorful buildings with a faint scowl. She stopped in front of him, waiting for him to step forward, but he made no move to venture in. The two stood there in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment, Kaede forcing a smile as she tried to prompt him. “... Looks like we’re the odd ones out, huh?” She pointed out. Silence. Kaede swallowed a lump in her throat, trying to ignore the discomforting quiet enveloping them. “So… it looks like a pretty big place. Do you want to look around together?”

“... Why are you doing this?”

Kaede blinked. “... What?”

“Why are you tryin’ to hang out with me like nothing happened?” Mondo asked, not moving from his spot or even looking at her. His voice lacked any of its usual harshness. There was no anger in it, or anything but a slight, tired hint of suspicion.

A cold dread slowly started creeping up Kaede’s spine. That… wasn’t a question she was expecting, or one she was prepared to answer honestly. The sheer surprise of it kept her silent for a few seconds, staring at the biker in anxious uncertainty. Without anything to fall back on, she defaulted to the closest thing to the truth she could give. “W-well, we made a promise, didn’t we? I meant what I said that night. I think-”

“You already said that in Kirumi’s lab, and it’s still horseshit,” He interrupted, putting a little more force in his voice. “I almost killed you. Even before that, all I did was act like a jackass to you. There’s no reason you’d see a friend in somethin’ like that. You’d have to be a goddamn idiot to keep me around just for that…” Mondo finally turned to face her, his greyish purple eyes narrowed in a piercing wary glare as he stared right into her soul. “And we both know you’re no idiot.”

Kaede sucked in a breath, her heart beating a little faster under his chilling stare. He _ knew _. Even if he didn’t know exactly what she’d done, he saw through her for certain. “... I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Mondo…” She lied, silently pleading that he’d take it at face value. Her prayers went unanswered, however, as his eyes grew harder.

“Bullshit. This is exactly what I’m talking about. Every time I try to figure out what you’re doing, you play dumb and try to dodge it. You’re lying through your fuckin’ teeth, and I don’t even know why,” He growled, tightening his fists. Kaede flinched back without realizing it, guilt flashing through Mondo’s glower for a moment before his harsh expression softened slightly with a sigh. “... Look. I don’t think you’re lyin’ about everything. You wouldn’t have stuck your neck out for me at the trial like that if you didn’t really give a shit… but I know you’re not being straight with me about something. So stop fuckin’ around. Whatever it is, just spit it out already.”

Akamatsu said nothing. All sound seemed to fade away, the faroff sounds of running rides and static-tinted music becoming mute as even her heartbeat became silent to her. There was nothing but her and Mondo, separated by a wall of deceit she built herself. The promise she’d made to him -to _ everyone _ she’d failed- was in danger because of it. There was only one way to preserve that oath… and it meant confessing the darkness in her soul she’d tried so hard to hide. A cold dread encased her entire body, sickening her to her core and tightening around her neck like the familiar pull of a noose. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to see yet another person she cared about realize the kind of disgusting monster she was; watch as their eyes widened in betrayal and hate…

But who the hell was she to be so wrapped up in _ her _ worries when she was the one in the wrong? She almost _ murdered _ him, and here she was, thinking about how shameful admitting the truth would be! “... Okay,” Kaede conceded quietly, her voice hardly above a whisper. It took all the strength in her body to meet his eyes. Her mouth was painfully dry, the words feeling like sandpaper on her tongue, but she forced them out all the same. “... You’re right. I have been hiding something from you, but I shouldn’t. You… you deserve to know the truth.” 

Mondo didn’t seem to be expecting a confession, his eyebrows raising at that, but he didn’t say anything. His expectant gaze made it clear what he wanted… so, she would give it to him, no matter how much it hurt her. “... I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to be your friend. I meant it then, and I mean it now. But… I lied about why. It’s not because I’m a good, forgiving person… because I’m not. I did it to make up for something horrible.”

Owada thinned his lips. “So, what, this is your way of makin’ up for killing someone?” He asked, sounding unconvinced.

Kaede shook her head. “No…” She denied, her voice trembling as she prepared to confess her sin, but the butterflies in her stomach found their way into her throat, desperately trying to suffocate the truth before it could escape. She felt like she could vomit from the hellish spike of adrenaline racing through her at that moment. It was the same fear she felt right before Mondo confessed during the trial, ironically enough. Kaede was practically drowning in her own dread. It took every scrap of courage she had to spit the words out before they’d become stuck in her forever. “It’s to make up for trying to kill you.”

“…”

“...”

“... What?” Mondo finally gasped out, his jaw dropped and eyes wide in shock.

The sheer disbelief in his voice hit her like a bus, but she forced herself forward, nails painfully digging into her elbow. “When you swung that dumbbell at me, I couldn’t believe it. I was so scared I couldn’t think straight. All I could think about was how I almost died, and how you could finish me off if you wanted. I know you wouldn’t, but in the moment... when it rolled over to me and I saw you kneeling in front of me…” She hesitated, her voice becoming more and more strained with emotion as she went on. She grit her teeth, shameful tears pricking at her eyes. “I grabbed it, and right until Kaito showed up, I was going to swing it at your head. If he wasn’t there… I would have killed you.”

Dead silence followed, her words hanging in the air suffocatingly. Mondo stared at her, stunned. “... You… were gonna kill me?”

Kaede couldn’t bear to look at him after that, gazing shamefully at her crossed arms. “... Yes. When I realized that, I was horrified. I… I hate myself for ever even thinking about it. That’s why I made that promise with you, and why I wanted to be your friend so badly. It’s… atonement. Being there for you is the only way I can even start to make up for what I did,” She quietly admitted, her voice soft with remorse as her head hung low. She could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks as she willingly burned one of the most important bridges she had, knowing full well that fire would spread to every connection she had until she was alone. Any trust she had left would vanish the moment they heard that, and they’d be right to reject her, too. Kaede sucked in a breath, her heart already breaking as she whimpered out, “... That’s it. You can go if you want. I won’t stop you.”

Silence once again. She didn’t dare to look up at him, dreading what she knew she’d see if she did. He’d hate her. They all would. Maybe she was a coward for it, but she didn’t want to see that for herself. No matter how much she deserved it, she wasn’t ready for-

“... I ain’t going anywhere.”

Kaede’s head snapped up, locking eyes with the Ultimate Biker. He didn’t look mad, shockingly. If anything, though definitely not comfortable, he looked oddly reassured, his features less hard than they had been before her confession. Her surprise must have shown through, as Owada continued. “I mean… shit. I’m not gonna lie and say it’s great to hear that. But, it ain’t like I can blame you for it. Heat of the moment like that… we both know what I woulda done,” He mused, glancing away for a long moment before finally meeting her gaze again. “Honestly… I think I trust you more for it.”

Akamatsu stared at him in incomprehension. “.... What…?” She murmured. “You… trust me _ more _?”

The burly man gave half a nod. “That’s what I said.”

After a moment, she blinked and shook her head to banish the surreal feeling those words brought. “Mondo... I just admitted I was going to kill you! You should be mad- no, furious! You should **hate** me!” She shouted at him, her voice raising with each word as she failed to understand what was happening. “Why?! Why are you just forgiving me for that?!”

Mondo blinked, taken aback by her sudden outburst, but it faded as he gave his answer with absolute certainty. “Because it proves you haven’t been bullshitting this whole time.”

In an instant, the wind was knocked out of Kaede’s sails, the girl’s self-targeted fury transforming into abject confusion. “... Huh?”

“Ever since I met you, you’ve been on top of shit. The second I left that locker, you started callin’ the shots. I figured you were just friendly when you were acting all buddy-buddy with everyone… but, then we got our memories back and everything went to shit. Everyone was scared shitless and panicking… except you. There you were, still tryin’ to take charge and get everyone to listen to you,” Owada straightened up slightly, thinning his lips. “Then the next time I see you, you come right up to me and start talkin’ like we’re classmates or something when you _ know _ I killed someone. You acted like nothing changed. Fuck, even after I…” He let out a hissing noise, clenching his eyes in shame. “ _ Fucked up _, it was like it barely mattered to you. Even then, you were still takin’ control and acting like everything was fine… it reminded me of Celeste.” 

Kaede flinched at the name, her brow furrowing in confusion. “... What do you mean?”

The criminal gained a small sneer. “All throughout our game, she was never bothered by anything. The killing game, Monokuma, even bein’ trapped in that damn school, she’d just smile and tell us to deal with it. I knew she had ta either be blind to reality or lying her ass off… and I got that same feelin’ from you. Either you were that fuckin’ idealistic, or you were hiding somethin’,” He accused, the blonde grimacing at the harsh but true words. “I knew for sure when you tried lying to me in Kirumi’s lab.”

Akamatsu’s eyes trailed to the floor guiltily. “... Well, you’re not wrong. But… I don’t understand. If you didn’t trust me, why did you stick with me?”

Mondo’s hard gaze softened considerably, his lips twisting in a look of confliction. “If I thought you were tryin’ to play me, I woulda told ya to go fuck yourself. But, you weren’t. Like I said earlier, whatever you were coverin’ up, I still felt like you meant what you were sayin’ about movin’ on and bein’ friends. Why you were honest about that and lying about other shit is what kept me from goin’ all the way one way or the other.”

“... I still don’t get it. How does me almost murdering you make me trustworthy?” Kaede asked as she glanced up at him, trying to emphasize just what a ridiculous idea that was despite her weariness.

“Because it’s _ human _,” He stressed, firm lilac meeting uncertain magenta as their eyes locked once again. “You aren’t some mask of a person. You’re admitting ya got scared, that ya panicked. That you aren’t always in control. Frankly, I trust someone who admits they fucked up a helluva lot more than a jackass who pretends they ain’t one. ‘Sides… you had the balls to admit that to my face. If I can’t believe in you after ya take a chance like that, then I can’t trust anyone.”

Kaede almost couldn’t believe it. She’d been prepared to lose Mondo’s trust at the very least, yet that hadn’t happened. Rather, the opposite did. She stared at him with countless emotions swirling in her chest. “You… you still believe in me?”

Mondo stepped off from the wall, approaching with his arm outstretched for a handshake. “That’s our promise, isn’t it?” He pointed out, smirking faintly.

The self-hatred, dread, and regret that had been suffocating Kaede since their conversation began disappeared like shattering chains, the blonde’s heart soaring with a relief she’d never thought possible. Her hands covered her mouth in disbelief, her face still wet and aching from her tears. Before she could even process what she was doing, she surged forward, all but slamming into the biker as she threw her arms around him and hugged Mondo as tightly as she could, not noticing the startled noise of protest that escaped him. “Thank you! I won’t let you down!”

“Uh, y-yeah. Awesome…” The man awkwardly muttered as he turned rather stiff in her arms, the embrace going unreturned. A moment passed before he let out an uncomfortable cough. “... Er… Kaede? Couldja let go now?”

Instantly, Kaede became keenly aware of just how close she was to the Ultimate Biker. “O-oh! Uh, r-right!” She sputtered out in a near-panic as she came to her senses, all but shoving off of him with her face flushing in embarrassment. She folded her arms, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks. “S-sorry. That was kinda weird…”

“It's fine. Whatever, y’know?” Mondo muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away in a poor attempt to hide the crimson tinting his own cheeks. His reassurance only made Akamatsu feel even more awkward about the whole thing. It was probably the best ending their roller coaster of a conversation could have had, but that didn’t mean it was any less cringe inducing for them. A beat passed. “... S-so, are we gonna check this place out or what?” He asked a touch louder than he probably needed to.

It was just what Kaede needed to snap herself out of her funk, clasping her hands together with only a hint of embarrassment in her smile. “Right! The others are probably wondering where we are by now, so…” She pumped her arms. “Let’s go!”

Mondo nodded, his features smoothing into a small smirk as the pair began walking together into the land of mystery ahead. For the first time in what felt like forever, Kaede was able to be by his side in peace, finally comfortable in the bond they were starting to form.

***

The first thing that struck Kaede about the park was just how big it actually was. She’d certainly gleaned as much just looking over the place from the front gate, but that tiny window failed to do justice for the astounding size of the place. Logically speaking, she knew it couldn’t have been any larger than the floors below it simply due to the fact that they were on a ship, but the layout of it definitely gave that perspective. Unlike the rest of the ship so far, Felony Funland wasn’t simply a series of rooms connected by long and cavernous highways. Rather, it was a vast, open chamber of a room that she couldn’t see the end of in any direction, a different ride, tent, or building of some sort standing at practically every turn. She couldn’t even tell where exactly the ceiling was in this place, as looking up past the bright lights of the ferris wheel and other notably tall attractions only showed a shadowy darkness unaffected by the dazzling displays below. That left the various attractions of the place itself to provide lighting, giving it an atmosphere similar to a carnival on a dark, moonless night.

Fortunately, there were enough lights strung about to clearly light the admittedly impressively designed paths leading from the entrance that split off in various directions. There were street signs at the start of each of these divergences, but they were rather unhelpfully labeled only with question marks and a cartoonish picture of a shrugging Monokuma, presumably implying the signs would be marked in once their investigation was complete. Not having any clue where anything was, Kaede and Mondo decided to simply head to the right and see what they stumbled across. 

Some time passed without encountering much of note, simply taking in the sights of the festive facade around them as they walked along. The farther they walked down the path, the more it seemed to resemble a flashy commercial street, like they were talking through a cartoonish version of a bustling city. Most of the surrounding buildings had labels and windows, but seemed to be little more than scenery, as any attempt to open their doors was met with little success.

Despite the logical part of her mind vigilantly scanning everything for some potential danger, Kaede would be lying if she said she wasn’t starting to feel at least a little excited about her surroundings, a small sense of giddiness not unlike she felt when she and Shuichi first found her talent lab. She let out a thoughtful hum. “Hmm… it’s weird. I know Monokuma built this place, but it almost feels like a real theme park, you know?”

Mondo glanced at her with a small shrug. “Does it? Never been to one.”

The blonde looked at him, slightly surprised. “You haven’t? Oh. Well, they’re a lot like this, but less… Monokuma-y, I guess?” She gave a vague gesture around her with her hand. “It definitely reminds me of one I went to when I was little, anyway.”

“Guess that makes sense. My bro and I never had the money for it as kids, and by the time we did, we were runnin’ the gang full time, so it was off the table. Disneyland ain’t exactly the place a bunch of bikers wanna be seen.” He mused wryly. 

Kaede smirked mischievously. “What, don’t you think mouse ears on your helmet would add to the rough and tumble look?”

The biker scoffed out a chuckle. “Yeah, ‘bout as much as if I paint my bike pink.”

“Hey! Pink’s a tough guy color! Look at me!” Kaede insisted, crossing her arms in mock-incredulity She could only hold out against Mondo’s half-confused, half-flat look of ‘are you serious’ for a few moments before bursting into giggles. “Heheh, alright, fine. Point taken,” She conceded, a more earnest smile overcoming her. “But I think you’d have fun! I bet you’d love roller coasters! We should definitely go to one together when we get out of here!”

Owada’s purplish eyes widened for a moment. “We…? Uh… yeah. That’d be cool.”

Kaede tilted her head curiously, uncertain what caused that nervous stumble, but she didn’t have a chance to ask about it as a shrill voice cut through the air. “Wh-WHADINA ‘ELL IZZAT?!”

The once-Ultimate Pianist flinched, her head shooting up in alarm at the scream. It didn’t take more than a moment for her to realize the sound came from a branching path to the right of them, and before she could fully think it through, she was already barreling towards them at full speed. She vaguely heard Mondo call out from behind her, his footsteps thundering behind her as he rushed to join her. It couldn’t have taken more than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity had passed by the time Kaede finally arrived at the source.

Before her was a dead-end of an alley, the road leading to what looked to be a fairly small shack of a building that was cozily cushioned between either wall of the alley. It had a flashing sign on the roof in the shape of someone in an electric chair balancing on top of the blue letters **“Death Row Delights”** , with bright yellow lights alternating on and off to give the effect of static electricity flowing around the letters and into the silhouette above. Below that was a serving window currently occupied by Monodam, what looked like a menu of some sort at a glance, and the main points of interest, Korekiyo and a _ very _ angry looking Teruteru. Kaede furrowed her brow, calling out to the two as she approached. “Guys? What’s going on here?”

Kiyo turned to face her, tipping his cap in greeting with one hand while he held a bowl of something in the other. “Ah, Kaede, Mondo. A pleasure to see you. As for what’s going on, Teruteru and I happened upon this food stand, but its offerings are… of poor taste, to say the least.”

“‘Poor taste’? Ah, hell naw!” Teruteru howled out. Even from a decent ways away, Kaede could see the portly boy trembling with indignation as he hollered and pointed at the robot furiously. “Dis issa outrage! Ah ain’ nevah been so ‘fended in mah life! Ah ain’ gonna be dis’erspected by some dumb fas’-food-eatin’ robo’ hick!”

Monodam fidgeted, wringing his metallic paws, but didn’t say anything in his own defense as Kaede stopped a few feet from the chef, Mondo joining them a moment later. “C-calm down, Teruteru!” She pleaded, raising her hands in surprise of his sudden outburst. “I know you’re the Ultimate Chef, but you don’t have to take bad cooking personal-”

“Ta hell wi’ dat low-brow shit! Ah would’nta gi’en it da time a day if’d jus’ bad!” Hanamura screamed, throwing a hand towards the menu. Kaede thinned her lips, glancing over the list of items suspiciously… until she realized what was listed, and felt herself grow more nauseous with each entry.

**Pa-Nanami Cakes**

**Shinguji Stew**

**Mondo Butter Popcorn**

** Deep-Fried Teruteru w/fries**

**NEW! Ludenberry Jam Croustades**

“O-oh my god…” Kaede retched out, bile tickling the back of her throat as she covered her mouth in horror. She desperately hoped she was hallucinating it somehow, but the words and pictures in front of her were undeniable, as were the racks of display food next to Monodam that confirmed the menu’s validity. “This… this is _ sick _! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Yeah! Is this supposed to be funny, you little asshole?! And what the fuck is ‘Mondo Butter’ anyway?!” Mondo growled out, stepping towards the robot with a clenched fist.

Monodam fearlessly stared down the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. “I-AM-SORRY. FATHER-DESIGNED-THE-MENU. I-ONLY-SELL-THEM-SO-THAT-YOU-MAY-EAT-TOGETHER-AND-GET-ALONG-AS-FRIENDS. I-MEAN-NO-HARM.”

“Get along by eating food based on our executions?! Are you insane?!” Akamatsu furiously demanded before a sickening idea rattled her to the core. “... Th-they’re not… _ actually _-”

“I can assure you they’re not,” Korekiyo mercifully interrupted, closing his eyes in thought. “Though it is not the most appetizing dish I’ve ever had -perhaps less salt would improve it, for instance- I am certain this stew is made up of nothing more than common ingredients. Human flesh doesn’t have a distinct flavor, per se, but I don’t taste it here.”

Kaede let out a shaky sigh, only slightly comforted by that. “Geez… I guess at least we know- wait. Back up a second. Kiyo... how do you know what human flesh tastes like?”

All of them fell silent at that, even Teruteru’s ever-present mutters of outrage quieting down as they all stared at the anthropologist. Shinguji didn’t say a word, matching their stares with an unreadable expression, before slowly taking a long, quiet sip of his stew. Some of the most uncomfortable moments of Kaede’s life passed waiting for an answer she’d ultimately never receive as her sense of dread won out against her courage. “... A-anyways, you’re right, Teruteru. This is disgusting.”

“More ‘an disgustin’! Dis issa damn insult ta da culinareh arts demselves!” The cook fumed, balling his fists in anger. “Da name an’ face ada Ultimate Chef shoul’nt be on some shitty greasy carny fas’ food!”

“So, you take greater offense at it supposedly being low-class food than the fact that it's an overt reference to your death? How peculiar…” Kiyo hummed neutrally, earning multiple dark glares.

“D-d-d-dat ain’t none a’your bidness!” Teruteru sputtered out, fear entering his beady brown eyes.

Kaede felt a surge of outrage course through her, the blonde pointing at Shinguji warningly. “Hey! Don’t be so insensitive, you jerk!”

Korekiyo blinked in surprise, something dancing in his serpentine eyes for a few moments until they slowly closed. “Ah… yes, that was inconsiderate. I sometimes forget de-... _ that _ is a… touchier subject for some than it is for others. My apologies.”

“You really are a pretentious dickhead, you know that?” Owada hissed, keeping himself firmly in place but delivering a glare with as much revilement as a punch ever could. 

“That’s not helping, Mondo…” Akamatsu pointed out exasperatedly.

Before their squabbling could go any further, Mondom’s robotic voice crackled to life. “OH-NO. THIS-WAS-SUPPOSED-TO-HELP-YOU-GET-ALONG, BUT-HAS-ONLY-BROUGHT-STRIFE. PLEASE-DO-NOT-FIGHT. I-SHALL-FIX-THIS,” The overtly mechanical bear promised, hopping off the counter and out of sight. After a few moments, he reappeared, carrying a tray of golden-brown pastries with dark, chunky red jam in the center of each. “A-FREE-ORDER-OF-LUDENBERRY-CROUSTADES. PLEASE-ENJOY-THESE-SWEETS-TOGETHER-AND-GET-ALONG.”

The splattered mess of a stain that was the corpse of Celestia Ludenberg flashed in Kaede’s mind, and with it, her fury rocketed past the boiling point. “How _ dare _ you?” She hissed through clenched teeth, a tar-like bitterness churning deep inside her. “Get out of my sight right now. _ I won’t warn you again _.”

If it was possible for robots to pale, Kaede was certain Mondam would have under her hellish glare. He scampered away with a worried bleep of some kind, nearly dropping the plate of pastries on top of himself in his haste. She didn’t feel any satisfaction in watching his terrified escape, or in the varyingly surprised looks of her friends as the stunned silence dragged on in the wake of her fury, only letting out a weary huff as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “... Sorry. I…” She trailed off, the words failing to come to her. “... Let’s just go.”

“... Y-yeah. Ah can’ stand lookin’ adat place. Less’ move on…” Teruteru muttered, still too upset to care about his slipping accent. 

Shinguji nodded, hiding his eyes behind the brim of his hat. “There was little else to be gleaned there regardless. It would be best to carry on.”

Mondo didn’t say anything, but he gave no opposition as the anthropologist and the chef left the alley and wandered off back towards the entrance. There was a certain tenseness in his jaw, a telltale sign that he was trying to keep his mouth shut about something, but Kaede didn’t pry. They both knew perfectly well what he was shutting up about, and harsh as it might sound, she really preferred if it stayed that way. She was grateful that he had the tact not to object to her grief, no matter how much he hated Celeste, but there was little good to be done by bringing attention to that. Shaking her head, Kaede took a breath to recollect herself. “... Well, we’re not getting anything done standing around here. We should go.”

Owada gave one last glance at the shop, his lips thinning with a glower, and nodded. “Yeah. Fuck this place.”

A light scoff escaped her. “Screw this place.” She agreed, and with that, they got back on their way.

***

Odd as it was, she was glad to have somewhere to wander around aimlessly. The walking was a good way of burning off the remnants of her anger, her sour mood fading away as time went on. She and Mondo weren’t speaking beyond the odd comment about something they saw along the way, but it was a companionable quiet, one that was probably needed for her to cool down. It didn’t take overly long before she was back to her usual (relatively) high spirits, the stretches between their small talk becoming shorter as she started to feel more like herself.

It took a few more minutes of wandering down the black and white brick road after that point, but soon enough, they stumbled across the next location of interest. Standing proudly before them was a tall hexagonal building decked out in flashing neon signs of countless colors and designs, a dazzling oasis of light in the night-like atmosphere. Most of it was clearly video-game related with icons and characters that even the rather electronically uncultured Kaede recognized by name, the most elaborate being a PAC-MAN maze that trailed the edges of the entire front of the building as a sort of frame that held the rest, with the ghosts circling the proudly advertised name of the establishment.

“**Eight-Bit Zoners**, huh?” Kaede read aloud, studying the building with a slight smile. “Wanna bet whose lab this is?”

Mondo scoffed. “If you’re bettin’ anyone but Chiaki, sure,” He mocked. Despite that, though, there was a certain light in his eye as he looked over the elaborate display. “I gotta admit, though, this place looks pretty fuckin’ cool. Used to get the guys together and crash arcades like this all the time. Wanna check it out?”

Akamatsu nodded confirmingly. “Totally! I’ve never actually been to an arcade before, so this’ll be pretty neat! We can say hi to Chiaki if she’s here, too!” The musician added happily. With that, the pair approached and stepped through the double doors.

Though she’d never been to one personally, the interior perfectly resembled what she imagined an arcade looked like. Dozens of game cabinets and booths crowded the room, six lining either side of the entryway before splitting off in a complex maze of flashing screens and dazzling colors that seemed to stretch on endlessly. The tinted lights lining the ceiling and walls bathed the room in a deep blue that nicely complimented the luminescent pink and green accents in the carpeting. Electronic chirps and tunes blared from all around like market callers in a loud and discordant yet oddly charming chorus. In the center of the room was a spiraling staircase, the railing emitting the same shade of blue as the lighting while multicolored flashes danced towards the top, promising even more games above.

“Woah…” Kaede whistled out, amazed. She could hardly take in what she was looking at, nearly overwhelmed by it all. Despite the somewhat intimidating catalog of titles, it was also rather exciting, like being in a candy store for the first time. “I don’t even know where to start…” She thought aloud. Suddenly, an idea struck her, the girl looking towards the Ultimate Biker curiously. “Hey, do you think they have any of the games you know, Mondo?”

Owada looked a little less blown away than her, though clearly still impressed. “Shit, probably. I didn’t even know there _ were _ this many games. Prolly be weirder if they didn’t have ‘least a couple. Might as well look around.”

And so the pair did exactly that, the biker and the former pianist casually strolling around the myriad of cabinets with intrigue. Kaede didn’t recognize most of them, unsurprisingly, but she could pick out a few of the better known names. The place didn’t seem to have any particular theme beyond gaming in general, as there were decades-old titles next to what were clearly much more modern and visually impressive games and every genre she could theoretically imagine there being games for. She kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, bearing in mind Monokuma’s vague hint, but nothing stood out as especially odd. Mondo found what he was looking for near a secondary entrance towards the back, a rare grin crossing his features once they found a beloved beat’em up of his, but they decided to put any playing on hold until they’d explored everything.

Thus, the two continued upstairs. The second floor was less flashy than the first, with the hazy blue atmosphere being replaced by a much brighter and bolder electric yellow. The layout was considerably less complex than yet far from lacking in content, with the area directly in front of the stairwell consisting of an enormous screen more akin to one you’d find in a movie theater than a TV spanning from one wall to the other, a veritable collection of bean-bag chairs that formed rows of semi-circles around the screen in a way that struck Kaede as almost worshipping. Lining the walls from the edge of the screen to about halfway across the room on either side were shelves upon shelves of cartridges and cases with their respective systems to match, Akamatsu surmising that there had to have been at least hundreds of games neatly and densely packed together just at a glance at the almost unimaginable collection.

And, in the center of all of it, was an absolutely _ exhilarated _ Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer rushing to and fro with an energy Kaede never imagined her possessing. She raced from shelf to shelf with the biggest grin a girl her size could have, her pinkish eyes sparkling with delight. Kaede felt herself smiling at finally seeing her often reserved Nanami truly in her element. “Hey, Chiaki!” She called out with a friendly wave… only to go unnoticed by the fangirling teen, who continued running about with barely audible squeaks of awe. She didn’t particularly mind, though, content to see Chiaki’s joy unfold. “Heh. I’m pretty sure she’s in heaven right now.”

Mondo scratched the back of his head. “Do ya think we should say somethin’, or just leave her be?”

Kaede looked at him, then back to the bouncing ball of hype that was Chiaki, and shook her head with a smile. “With all these games around, I don’t think she’d notice even if we were right in front of her. Besides,” She looked behind her to find there was indeed more in the room. “It looks like there’s some stuff over there, so maybe Chiaki’ll wear herself out by the time we check it out.”

The stuff in question turned out to be a museum of sorts. Most of the displays ranged from specialty items like some sort of glove with buttons on it or replica swords that were hung on the wall and things of that nature. Others were apparently much rarer if their info blurbs were to be believed, such as a cartridge for a game that was apparently so bad that it was literally destroyed en masse until almost no copies were left intact. Most of it didn’t mean much to Kaede beyond being vaguely neat, but there was one thing that caught her interest. It was a handheld a little clunkier than the one she often saw Chiaki with, but what stood out was that it had a golden sheen to it. That would have just been a passing curiosity on its own if it weren’t for a thrilled squee that shrieked out as something all but teleported into place next to her. “Omigosh, I can’t believe it! It’s real!” Chiaki gasped out as if she’d just seen the face of god.

Kaede jumped with a yelp. “Gah-! Ch-Chiaki! Don’t sneak up on people and yell like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!” She scolded, placing a hand over her hammering heart with a pouting glare.

Chiaki’s smile fell slightly. “Oh… sorry, I got a little excited,” She said apologetically, but in a rare display for her, she quickly became energetic again. “But look! It’s _ real _!”

Kaede looked at the device quizzically, raising an eyebrow at Chiaki. “Uh… o-kay…?”

“Isn’t it awesome?!” Nanami demanded, pumping her fists as she leaned in uncomfortably close.

Akamatsu stared at her in silence, a cold sweat dribbling at her brow. “...” She tried to say something, but found herself too confused (and somewhat intimidated) to speak.

Mercifully, Mondo, who had been wandering around in general disinterest, approached the pair with equal confusion. “I don’t get it. It’s just a game, isn’t it?”

Chiaki puffed her cheeks out, apparently dissatisfied with his approximation of it. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” She noted with a hint of annoyance before shaking her head, her smile growing back to full form as she looked at the device. “But no. It’s a really, _ really _ rare Gamegirl Advance SP that was made for a special contest a long time ago. It’s so rare that these things are basically a myth. I mean, there’s only seven that were ever made!”

The musician looked over the handheld with renewed curiosity. “Huh… why so few? I mean, it looks neat, but isn’t themed stuff pretty common usually?”

The stars returned to Chiaki’s eyes. “Usually, yeah. The design actually isn’t unique. What makes these ones special is that they’re made out of solid gold!”

Kaede and Mondo’s jaws dropped in unison. “Wh-what?! Solid gold?!” She gasped out. If her ears weren’t as good as they were, she would have sworn she somehow misheard that. The delight in Chiaki’s eyes confirmed she hadn’t.

“Jesus… that thing must be worth a fuckton to nerds!” Owada declared in shock, earning a light glare from Kaede.

“Mondo! That’s not ni-”

“It totally is!” Chiaki spoke over her, completely unphased by Mondo’s inadvertent insult. Kaede blinked, slowly closing her mouth and rubbing her head helplessly. “Just being that rare alone makes it priceless to collectors, but the fact that it’s gold just triples it! I know people that would sell their house to get their hands on one!”

“... Are you one of them?” Kaede couldn’t help but joke, smiling awkwardly.

Chiaki’s face suddenly grew very serious. “... Maybe.”

Kaede and Mondo shared a look. That… was probably concerning. _ “Well, now that she has one in her lab, she wouldn’t be willing to do that if someone offered her a trade like that… right?” _

Before any of the three could say anything, though, an unwelcome guest popped in. “Bah! Big deal! I’ve got something WAY rarer than that for ya!”

Kaede let out a cross of a groan and a sigh as Monokuma somehow dropped from the ceiling. How exactly that worked, she had no clue, but nothing about that damn bear made any sense. “You’ve gotta be kidding me...!”

“You again…” Chiaki muttered wearily.

Mondo was far more aggressive in his exasperation. “What the fuck do you want, you annoying little bastard?”

Monokuma, still dressed in his ridiculous suit and hat, ignored the biker and spoke directly to Chiaki instead. “There might be seven of those things in the world, but how would you like to see a console with only one of its kind in existence?”

Despite the faintly annoyed look she gained at his arrival, Chiaki allowed her curiosity to get the better of her. “... Do you really have something like that?”

Kaede had a gut feeling Chiaki was going to be sorely disappointed in whatever it was the moment the bear’s grin grew. “Of course! Believe it or not, I’m a bear-y big fan of games! So much so that I decided to make some of my own!” He reached into his purple coat and pulled out a decently large rectangular device apparently concealed in his pocket. The thing was a fairly normal rectangle with a color scheme that matched the infamous ursine and a picture of his face to boot, but in the middle of it was what seemed to be the disk drive, right in the middle of his cackling maw. It looked… _ remarkably _ cheaply made, the black and white plastic already looking faded and neglected. Monokuma held no shame in displaying it, however, presenting it to the trio with pride. “Introducing… the Mono-Station 11037!”

“Isn’t that a little derivative? And what’s with the weird numbering?” Kaede snarked, crossing her arms. She didn’t notice how Mondo’s lips turned into a slight snarl at the numbers, too focused on the bear itself.

Nanami’s eyebrow rose a hair dubiously. “... And what games does this have, anyway?”

Apparently Monokuma didn’t care what Kaede or Mondo had to say as he once again only replied to the Ultimate Gamer’s query. “Why, only the best games soon to be on the market! Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, Ultra Despair Girls 2, Danganronpa V3: The Game, and so much more!” He jovially announced. Akamatsu’s brow furrowed, an odd sense of familiarity coming to her with at two of the games he mentioned, but she didn’t have any time to ruminate that before he continued his sales pitch. “But that’s not all! You see, along with its thrilling, chilling, and killing exclusive titles, this baby has a unique capability to run any game you put into it from any system and put a special Monokuma spin on it! Replay beloved classics for the first time as they get a remaster with my adorable face and sense of art!”

“Tch! Yeah, ‘cause we’re all real eager to see more of your ugly mug, asshole…” Mondo scoffed.

_ That _ finally managed to provoke a reaction from Monokuma, the bear turning just enough to glare at him and huff, “You’re one to talk, corn-cob head!”

Owada blinked, his face turning bright red with anger. “The FUCK did you just say?!”

Kaede shot him an imploring look, the silent message not to do something stupid coming in loud and clear if his grit teeth and low, rumbling growl of defeat as he turned away were anything to go by. Shooting a wink at Kaede (earning a heated glare from her in turn), Monokuma cleared his throat. “Ahem. As I was saying, it’s a truly one-of-a-kind machine that’ll tie your collection together and make you the envy of every basement dwelling fanboy around! So, a collector’s item like this must be worth a fortune, right? Well, as your generous headmaster, I shall grant you my one and only prototype to hone your talent on for absolutely free!”

Chiaki thinned her lips to a small frown. “... What’s the catch?”

The bear vigorously shook his head. “None at all! It’s my job as your leader on our little educational voyage of mutual killing to encourage as much growth in you youngsters as I can!” He said in a voice so close to genuine that its mocking undertones came in all the sharper. After a moment, his smirk turned more devious than usual. “Buuut… if you decline this change to playtest my wonderful machine, I’ll have to ask you for a small donation of a million dollars to make up for the cost.”

Kaede almost choked, her jaw dropping in disbelief. “O-one million dollars?! Are you crazy?! No game’s worth that!”

Monokuma tapped at his chin. “That’s awfully ignorant of how expensive a project like this is, but them’s the breaks. Don’t worry, though; if you do that, we have a special compensation prize to celebrate your support of the studio!” He took off his hat and reached inside to reveal yet another hat, this one a white baseball cap adorned with Monokuma and the words **‘Sorry, I was born stupid’** written over him in pink. He moved each paw up and down as if he were weighing the items. “So, what’ll it be? Play some games, or pay a million big ones?”

The ex-Ultimate Pianist glowered at Monokuma in a mix of annoyance and absolute bewilderment. “That’s ridiculous. What kind of trade is-”

“... Okay. I’ll try it out. Could be fun.” Chiaki blandly said with a small shrug.

Kaede stared at Chaiki for a few moments, blinked, and quietly closed her mouth. _ “... Nevermind. Chiaki’s _ ** _really_ ** _ devoted to her talent, I guess. That, or she just really doesn’t want to pay Monokuma…” _

“Yippee! I knew you’d make the right choice! You’re not some **wishy-washy reserve student**, after all!” Monokuma happily chirped. Kaede could have sworn something twitched in Nanami’s expression for a moment, but before she could even begin to think about it, Monokuma was already rambling again. “Well then, right this way, Miss Nanami! Let’s put this baby to the test!”

The monochrome monster hurriedly waddled off to the other end of the room, leaving the trio alone with each other. Chiaki looked to the two with thinned lips. “... Monokuma’s probably going to take a while with this. You guys should go on ahead and I can catch up later… I think.”

Kaede rubbed her head uncertainly. “Sorry you got roped into this somehow…”

Mondo clenched his teeth a little, glaring over at the teddie from hell. “Tch… bastard, forcin’ this bullshit on you… he better not push his luck. Tell me if he does, alright?”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I was gonna try it out anyway. I think this is just Monokuma trying to mess with me. It wouldn’t be much fun for him if he pushed too hard and I said no, so I don’t think we have to worry.” The gamer assured. 

Kaede didn’t have as much faith in their so-called captain’s sense of self control, but she didn’t have anything to argue with besides her own distaste for Monokuma, so she acquiesced the point with a nod. “Well, if you’re sure, then… okay. We’ll definitely let you know if we find anything important as soon as we can. And… well, it’s easier said than done, but even if he isn’t a threat right now, try not to let him get under your skin, okay?”

Chiaki nodded firmly. “I won’t. I’ve dealt with even more annoying NPCs than him before. This’ll be a minor boss at best,” She jargoned, pulling up her backpack straps in preparation. “See you guys soon.”

Akamatsu managed a simple smile, granting the Ultimate Gamer her support whether she needed it or not. “Okay. See you in a bit, Chiaki.”

Mondo didn’t look happy with it, but he didn’t put up any more of a fight. “Later.”

The duo turned and started towards the stairs, believing the conversation to be over, when Chiaki softly called out to them. “... Hey, Mondo?”

The biker paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

Nanami’s lips pulled up in a small, warm smile. “... I’m glad you’re back."

Mondo blinked, seemingly unsure of how to respond. “Er… yeah. Thanks…” He muttered back unusually shyly. The two hesitated, but once it was clear that was all, Kaede continued down the stairs with Owada in tow. She let a simper grace her features. It was tempting to say something teasing about that, but she didn’t want to embarrass him over it, certainly not when their friendship was this young.

She could simply be content that there was at least one more person willing to forgive Mondo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NO, THE MONOKUBS WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE TRIALS, NOR WILL THEY BE USED FREQUENTLY.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way, why are they here, you ask? Well, because we thought it'd be funny to have them cameo as the ones running the attractions in Felony Funland. Plus, much like Hifumi and Teruteru, it's a personal challenge to make the most annoying wastes of space in V3 into entertaining characters. If we succeed, great. If we don't, oh well, they're only present for a few jokes anyway. 
> 
> Side note, the arcade's name is a reference to our absolute chad of a commenter 8BitOwners. You rock, dude.
> 
> Those food puns took an entire writing session to come up with; I hope they were worth it.
> 
> EDIT: BTW, link to our sexy new Discord server! https://discord.gg/bc86GSE
> 
> -MrCynical


	21. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede and Mondo continue to explore Felony Funland, discoveries are made, and the consequences of Kaede's actions begin to unfold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we were gonna make a normal chapter, but then decided stretching out the exploration across multiple chapters would be tiring, so here's one big ass chapter! Consider it a thank you for the absolutely astounding FOUR HUNDRED KUDOS! Thank all of you so much for your continued support, and enjoy the ride, fellas! :D
> 
> -MrCynical

With their business in the arcade concluded, the two Ultimates ventured out into the unknown areas of the park, leaving through the back entrance to see where that path led. It was initially pretty similar, mirroring the other path fairly closely for the first minute or two of walking with little of note beyond the odd bits of set-dressing standard for the area. 

After a short time of further walking, however, they finally came across a structure that dominated the skyline of the park even from the entrance. Standing like a dazzling monolith just beyond a tall archway maybe twenty feet away from the pair was an enormous building easily over a hundred feet taller than the comparatively dwarf-like structures surrounding it, Kaede having to crane her neck up considerably just to see the top of it. Unlike its sleek and modern peers, this building seemed to be strangely artistic, consisting of dozens of classical Japanese style roofings apparently stacked on top of each other at different angles that almost made it look like a grand spiraling staircase to the sky. It was lined with tall, tin metal beams going straight up and down in evenly spaced sets of threes around each directional side of the structure, alternating red and white lights running up and down each beam creating a spectacular sight to behold. Narrowing her eyes a little, the blonde could make out rows of seats at the bottom of the tower connected to the beams, confirming it to be a ride of some sort. In the middle of the arches was a brightly lit picture of a cackling Monokuma and the words **“Towa Tower of Terror”**.

“Woah…” Kaede murmured in amazement, a sense of intimidation creeping up her spine just looking at the humongous tower. She took pride in the fact that she generally didn’t get unnerved easily, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t feeling the least bit antsy in the face of the ride. “I-it’s huge...! I can’t believe it!”

Mondo was similarly astounded, his jaw hanging open slightly. “How the hell’d somethin’ like that even get here?!”

“Didn’t I already say it’s a miracle of engineering?” Monokuma asked rhetorically from right beside Kaede, the blonde jumping slightly with a small yelp of surprise as she swerved on her heels to face him. “I’m actually getting a little concerned now; are you guys _ actually _ going deaf?”

“G-geez! Stop sneaking up on us, you weirdo! And I’m _ not _ deaf!” Kaede snapped out, crossing her arms with a scowl. 

“And we didn’t ask your opinion, so why don’tcha just fuck off?” Owada spat.

The bear shrugged. “Hey, don’t blame me! You’re the ones not listening to anything I say. How am I supposed to tell the difference? If anything, you’re the weirdos!” He defended, daring to sound slightly offended by the statement. “Besides, Mister Owada, you DID ask, and so I answered!”

Kaede drew her lips up in a pout. “Just calling something a miracle isn’t an answer…” She grumbled, but after a moment, a thought struck her. “Actually, hang on a second. I thought you were busy with Chiaki?”

“I am! But a good headmaster knows how to multitask!” He cheerfully replied with a wink. Monokuma put his paws on his hips authoritatively. “That being said, I don’t like having to repeat myself over and over, so keep any questions about how X, Y, or Z are possible to yourself if my answers aren’t good enough! It’s not exactly a rule per se, but it you keep asking dumb questions, sooner or later, I won’t bother answering the smart ones, either!”

“Like you answer those anyway…” Mondo snarked with a sneer.

The monochromatic monster waved a paw dismissively. “Technicalities! My point is, you might as well just assume that everything you see here is _ somehow _ scientifically possible, because if it weren’t, there’s no way it could happen in the real world, right?” Monokuma asked. Kaede simply thinned her lips in response, both her and the biker offering nothing but cold glares of annoyance. He wasn’t phased, however, clapping as if they actually had answered. “Exactly! I’m glad we can agree to only ask questions about things that matter! So, then… is there anything your beloved captain can do for you?”

Owada curled his lip disdainfully. “You can piss off already.”

Kaede was inclined to agree, her daily limit of Monokuma tolerance already well beyond its quota, but the more logical side of her brain felt the need to check something. “Hold on! There’s something I want to know. You said some of the information about our friends and the outside world were in the rides, right? Does that mean that we’ll get it if we go on them?”

“Hoho, now THERE’S a good question! As for the answer… I dunno!” He declared, a mocking, knowing edge to his voice that made the childish response oddly ominous. “Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe they’re part of the rides, or maybe they’re hidden somewhere around them. Maybe this ride has some secret truths to reward brave passengers with, or maybe the reward is the thrill itself! It seems to me there’s only one way to know for sure! If I said anything more about it, I could accidentally spoil something, so byeonara!”

Akamatsu’s eyes widened, taken aback. “Hey, don’t-!”

Before she could even finish the words, he was gone, once again leaving her and Mondo alone. An exasperated huff escaped her, the girl’s pout deepening. “Urgh… would it kill him to give a straight answer for once?!

Monokuma shot back up for a moment. “Maybe!” He called out, and promptly disappeared again. It took Kaede a moment to process what just happened, but it certainly didn’t help her sour mood, glaring at the spot he popped up from as if she could kill him with a look alone if he dared to pop back up. When it was clear he was gone for good this time, however, she simply let out a sigh.

“Great… well, what do you think, Mondo? Should we try it?”

Mondo studied the tower for a moment, giving an annoyed click of his tongue. “... Nah. We still gotta look around, and if Monokuma wants us to do it, he can go fuck himself. If there’s shit we really need to know on there, then we can deal with it later,” He said decisively, crossing his arms with a nod. After a moment, he glanced towards the blonde with a shrug. “‘Sides, you look like you could piss yourself just lookin’ at that thing.”

Kaede’s eyes bugged out in offense. “Wh- do not! I’m not scared of heights! I could ride that thing ten times right now!”

“Then why don’tcha go ahead and do it?”

“...”

“...”

“... Okay, maybe I’m a little bit afraid of heights,” Kaede grumbled, feeling a little embarrassed at being called out so easily. She was quick to recover, however, drawing herself up confidently. “But when we’re done looking around, I’m gonna show that thing who’s boss! Just watch me!”

Mondo smiled at her passionate display. “Heh… why the hell not? More power to ya.”

Grinning confidently, Kaede retook the lead and marched along the path they’d been traveling. It was another period of relatively little interest as the pair simply passed by more decorations in search of something interesting for several minutes. Eventually, however, the urban facade started to fade away until it was gone entirely, the buildings to their right replaced with a large black wall that stretched up and out of sight. The path they were on seemed to be at a crossroads of sorts, as to their left was a street lined with the backsides of tents and stands that apparently led to some known location, while the one leading straight ahead disappeared into the flaps of a large red and white striped tent. Over the entrance was a logo of Monokuma in the weird circus getup he’d been wearing all day tipping his hat over his normal eye, leaning on a cane that looked like it had smatterings of blood on it. Surrounding him were the words, **“WELCOME TO THE CARNIVAL OF CARNAGE!”**

“Geez… that’s pretty ominous, huh?” Kaede hummed to herself with a small frown. Truth be told, she didn’t particularly want to go in there and see if the contents were as macabre as its advertising, but it wasn’t like she could simply ignore the place. They’d have to take a look through sooner or later as per Monokuma’s demands, so… “... Well, I guess we might as well see what’s here. If he was serious about those ‘prizes’ for games, a carnival would probably be the best place to find them, right?”

“If he’s not just talkin’ out of his ass, then prolly…” Owada grunted neutrally. 

Kaede nodded, and with that, the duo stepped through the entrance. The interior was hardly an interior at all as it turned out, as only the half of the structure facing the path was actually covered by anything, the back half entirely open air to reveal a number of tents and other attractions. As the name implied, it looked far more like a carnival than the urban streets of its preceding area, the slick multicolored neon glows replaced with a brilliant golden gleam of dozens of lightbulbs and cold grey concrete swapped for any number of enticing colors and designs. 

What was of particular interest to Kaede, however, was in the opposite direction of those tents. To her and Mondo’s right was a path leading to a few buildings off in the distance, but more interestingly, a giant steel ball cage like the ones she’d seen in a few movies surrounded by a pair of tiger-themed inflatables on either side of it bouncing to a beat she could faintly hear. A sense of recognition flashed in her mind a moment later, the musician clasping her hands in delight. “Oh, Mondo, look! It’s one of those motorcycle stunt cages! Wanna give it a try?”

After several moments ticked by without an answer, Akamatsu turned with a confused look to find the Ultimate Biker’s skin had paled slightly, his eyes widened and jaw dropped. The look on his face instantly revealed her incredible mistake, Kaede gasping out in horror as she threw a hand over her mouth. “Oh my god. Mondo, I’m _ so _ sorry. I-”

“I don’t wanna fuckin’ talk about it,” Mondo interrupted with a growl, hissing the words out through clenched teeth as he balled his hands into fists and looked away, scowling. His harsh look eased slightly as he met in Kaede’s empathetic gaze, letting out a tired breath, but he still looked unsettled. “... There’s games or some shit over there, right? I’m gonna play a couple.” He curtly announced, briskly walking past her with his hands shoved in his coat.

Kaede wanted to kick herself. _ “I can’t believe I just said that! God, I’m an idiot… I have to make this up to him!” _ She scolded herself, shame mixing with determination as she quickly raced to join him. His lilac eyes glanced over to her, wordless and unreadable, giving the once-Ultimate Pianist some pause. Her urge to help him wouldn’t do much good if he didn’t want her around, after all. “... Do you mind if I join you?”

His earlier aggression had disappeared almost completely, regret flashing across his features as he seemed to consider his response. “... Look, I ain’t mad at you. Just… seein’ that shit surprised me a little, that’s all. You can come on if ya want.” He offered in an almost negotiating tone, as if he were trying to sell her on the idea instead of accepting her request. 

It was obvious to both of them that he was underselling whatever he must have felt, but it didn’t feel like Kaede’s place to call him out on it. She could barely work up the courage to even acknowledge her own trauma, let alone talk about it with someone else. She couldn’t dare to be such a hypocrite as to try to force Mondo to entrust her with that. Instead, she simply bowed her head. “Thank you.”

The trudge over to the tents was a brief if somewhat uncomfortable one, but the lingering unease thankfully seemed to fall into the background as the two approached the closest of the games. “Is that…? Oh, hell yeah!” Mondo yelled with a grin. In front of them was a line of four whack-a-mole machines with art showing an image of Monokuma with a hammer almost as big as him that labeled the game as **“Hammer Happy Havoc”** . Each station was equipped with a smaller version of the mallet in the image, a grey and blue tool with the words **“Justice Hammer**” written on each of them for whatever reason. Owada’s smile was like a grinning wolf that just found the perfect prey.

Kaede’s eyes lit up, a touch of the man’s enthusiasm infecting her. “Oh, I remember these! My sister and I would play these all the time when the festivals rolled around! Are you good at it, Mondo?”

“Any good? I kicked the entire gangs’ asses at it!” Mondo proudly boasted. “Nothin’s more satisfying than whacking the shit out of those things. That’d be fuckin’ _ perfect _ right now. You see anywhere to put tokens?”

Akamatsu looked over the machine with a hum, searching for any kind of power mechanism. What she spotted seemed to be a scanner of some sort, a helpful image of Monokuma swiping his wrist next to it serving as the instructions. “Hmm… it looks like you scan your bangle thing here. I don’t see any coin slots or anything, so I guess it’s connected to that token system the casino uses.”

Mondo raised an eyebrow at that, the maestro idly remembering that he wasn’t there for Monokuma’s explanation on that, but he dismissed it with a shrug as he pulled his left hand out of his coat. “Worth a shot.”

Kaede readied her own bangle, twisting her wrist experimentally as the ready as a familiar sense of competition bloomed in her. “Let’s see who gets a higher score. Winner gets the loser’s tickets!” She declared. She didn’t know if that was actually possible under the system, but it was more the fire it lit than the supposed reward she was after. 

“Wh- hang on, I can’t compete against a chick! That’s-”

“Mark, get set, go!” She ignored his protests as she swiped her bracelet, causing the electronic score counter and countdown clock to light up and start counting down from five. She smirked at Mondo’s startled string of curses as he quickly swiped his own, apparently more even more opposed to being shown up by a ‘chick’ than competing against one at all. She had about a two-second head start, grabbing the mallet and watching the screen countdown with anticipation. _ “Three… two… one...! NOW!” _ She thought, already starting up her swing as the first mole shot up…

… and she was greeted with the smiling face of Rantaro Amami.

Shock and terror jolted through her, the hammer pulling the chain taught as she accidentally threw it, so caught off guard that she lost her grip on the tool. Her expression twisted in a silent, horrified scream, her mouth going dry as she gasped out and stumbled back in disbelief. Mondo, his machine still on the readying countdown, turned to her in concern. “Huh? Kaede, what’s-” He started to ask, cutting himself off as she pointed almost instinctively towards the visage of the boy she killed. Rantaro’s emerald eyes bore into her for a few more moments before disappearing back into the cabinet. Instantly, the head of a freckled girl with red hair popped up in the slot behind him, promptly followed by Hifumi’s unmistakable mug a few spots away from her.

Mondo’s own machine started up with a small jingle, and she could instantly see Mondo become as stiff as a statue. She could see what looked like a girl with short brown hair and greenish-yellow eyes that seemed to petrify the biker in place. “Ch-Chihiro…?!” He said in a cross of a gasp and a growl, the mallet falling from his hand… and falling directly on its head with a loud _ clonk _ and an electronic ding as his score rose by one. A black-haired boy with piercing red eyes popped up just as soon as the other one disappeared, and with that, Mondo’s patience snapped, slamming his fist down on the dashboard with a hearty yell again and again until his blows became sluggish. 

The machine jostled under his wrath, but much to his chagrin, the scorecard seemed to interpret that as hitting every target at once with each strike, a cacophonous din of electronic bells ringing out to commemorate it. The timer dinged a moment later, followed by a tinny recording of Monokuma’s voice. “_ New high score! Nice body count! _”

“... Shut the fuck up…” Mondo wearily muttered under his breath, his energy as expended as his patience. 

Kaede wanted to say something to try to help him, but found herself too shaken up from the unexpected ghost of her past. She’d had time to prepare herself with her motive video, but to practically be ambushed by his likeness so suddenly… no, more than that. To mock the memory of him and the apparent other victims of the games by making a sick joke of their deaths… she glared at the machines with a rising sense of cold, disgusted anger. _ God, _ she hated Monokuma. 

The pair’s sour mood wasn’t aided much by the sudden arrival of a different but equally infuriating robot bear. “Shit, that really is a new record! Actually not a bad start for gettin’ around the riggin’ we’ve got in these things. If ya bang the machine up too bad, though, I’m gonna hafta kill ya for it, so maybe lighten up.” Monosuke crowed, pushing up his glasses with an ominous flash of the light.

Mondo sneered down at the little menace. “Or maybe I oughta do it to you instead.”

“Hey, save that kinda talk for your friends. You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree with me. ‘Sides, way I heard it, ya killed your shot at that by not killin’ Blondie over there.”

Owada’s eyes couldn’t have gone any wider if he tried, staring in dumbfounded shock that flashed into guilt and just as quickly into anger. “The hell did you just say, you little son of a-”

“Don’t bother, Mondo. He’s not worth it,” Kaede huffed out, narrowing her eyes at the Monokub. As satisfying as it would be to watch Mondo punch a hole through him, the biker’s death was far too steep a price for that momentary entertainment. Mondo gave her a sideways glance, clenching his teeth in a snarl, but his balled hands stayed at his sides. Satisfied he wasn’t about to get himself executed, she got to the point. “Did you show up just to annoy us?”

The way Monosuke smirked at her almost made her wish Mondo did punch the little bastard. “First off, sister, I’m worth my weight in gold. Any attention granted to bastards like you by a Monokub -especially yours truly- should be seen as a great honor. Second, fun as that is, my time’s worth more than that. I’m here to let Corndog over here know about some of the prizes he can spend all those digital tickets he just earned on.”

“Call me that again and I’ll pound your sorry ass so hard your damn stuffing’ll be black and blue!” Owada roared. “And what are you talkin’ about with ‘digital tickets’?!”

“Almost like that’s what I’ve been tryin’ to explain for five minutes,” The bear grumbled under his breath. “Ahem. Y’see, here at Felony Funland, we’re all about keepin’ our customers happy. People’re more eager to give us cash if they ain’t mad, which means it’s in our best interest to make sure youse bastards are smilin’. Since draggin’ a whole buncha tickets around a big ass park like this would be a pain, we made it simple. Any monotokens youse got in your account from the casino can be used to play games here and earn **monotickets**, which are only good here in Felony Funland. The flipside of that is they can be used on prizes only we stock, so it might be worth investin’ if you’re lookin’ at one particular item.”

Mondo scoffed, unimpressed. “And why would I give a shit about any of that?”

“Maybe ya do, maybe ya don’t. That’s the beauty of the free market, pal,” Monosuke chided. “But in case you or your buddy decide you are interested, my shop’s just down the ways from here. Meet me there, and I’ll give youse a looksie at what we got stocked. ‘Til then, so long, bear well!” He flashed a cheeky wave before vanishing from view.

“... I _ really _ hate these goddamn bears.” Mondo hissed.

“I’m pretty sure everyone does,” Kaede dourly hummed in agreement, pouting in annoyance. “But I feel like we should still check out what he was talking about. If it’s something bad, we don’t wanna get caught off guard by it.”

“Tch… yeah, that makes sense…” The biker grunted, displeased, but gave no actual objection as the two started wandering in the direction of the Monokub’s store. Kaede took the opportunity to mentally prepare herself in case it was as twisted as the food stand they encountered, or the games that surrounded them at that moment, for that matter. She didn’t understand what exact events most of them were referencing, but she was certain all of them were some kind of sick joke about their murders, complete with copious amounts of Monokuma-themed merchandise for challenge prizes. A high-strike machine that swapped the bell for what looked like a crouching Tenko under a cage of some sort, a piranha-filled dunk tank with a life-sized ragdoll of Ryoma, a wheel of fortune with five unfamiliar faces labeled as losses and Chiaki as the one winning spin… she stopped bothering to pay attention after a while, refusing to let Monokuma’s sick sense of humor get under her skin.

Soon enough, they arrived at the shop. Its layout was an almost exact mirror of the exchange in the casino, being a decently sized circular shack with gated windows and a handful of teller’s booths to actually engage in trade. What mostly set it apart was the theming, as this building was much more in line with the surrounding carnival aesthetic and was proudly labeled as **“Cutthroat Conveniences”** if the flashy rotating sign at the top was anything to go by. As they approached one of the booths, Monosuke popped up at the window, pushing up his glasses with a grin. “Well well, look who decided they weren’t too good for my shop after all! Knew youse bastards would be here sooner or later.”

“Just get to the damn point and show what you’ve got already.” Mondo gruffly demanded.

“Heh, time’s money, huh? Man after my own heart. Fine then. Without further ado, take a look at these babies!” Monosuke called out as he tapped a button, and in an instant, a rotating shelf just like the one in the exchange popped up from the floor. The physical design wasn’t the only similarity it possessed, as the racks were stocked with a number of different weapons and tools for questionable purposes. In contrast to the rather dramatic assortment downstairs, these items seemed to be more discreet yet complex in nature, consisting of things like a large jug labeled as **“Monokuma’s Special Poison”**, a few small knives, rope, lighters, and other such objects. “Eh? What about it?”

Kaede narrowed her eyes, stifling a sigh. In truth, a part of her had been expecting something like that to be around, but that didn’t make its presence any more welcome. “What about it?” She parotted back, trying to sound more unimpressed than uncomfortable. “It’s just more things none of us are going to use, so it doesn’t matter.”

“‘Sides, this looks like the same kinda shit in Celeste’s lab. What’s so damn special about that?” Owada added.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re still preachin’ that friendship shit right after a murder happened. No way you’re that stupid,” The animatronic scoffed. “As for that other thing, what’s so damn special about this place is that our goods are a helluva lot cheaper than anything you’re gonna find down there. Take this, for instance...” He tapped the button to stop the display and grabbed an intimidatingly large knife from the rack. 

“Somethin’ this nice and useable in a murder would cost ya a million tokens or more down there if it actually worked as advertised. Here? Two thousand tickets is all ya need to get to slashin’ someone’s throat without worryin’ about bein’ seen in the kitchen or whatever. Everything on the rack is a promotion item, too, so you could get your hands on one of these without it bein’ obvious where the weapon came from. Also means you can buy a bunch of ‘em, instead of fighting over first come, first serve in our other establishment. Far as I’m concerned, that already makes this place loads better than that hoighty-toighty candy store Pops runs downstairs. But, if you still need some convincin’, maybe you’d prefer some of our **specialty stock**?”

Though the access to unlimited cheap weaponry was gravely concerning in its own right, something about the way the bear said those particular words sent a sense of unease through Kaede. “Speciality stock…?”

Monosuke’s grin grew as he set the knife back into place and reactivated the display. “That’s right. We got some real special things in here besides nifty tools for endin’ lives. Like… this!” He called out, grabbing an item from the top of the shelf before either of them could make it out and shoving it in their faces. Balanced between his paws was a long, somewhat bulky object that felt distinctly familiar for reasons Kaede couldn’t quite place. It looked like a flashlight, but…

It suddenly clicked, and Kaede’s eyes went wide. “Wait… that’s what gave us back our memories, isn’t it?”

“Not quite. Those are called flashback lights, which give back memories like ya said. This thing’s the opposite: it’s a **flash-blackout light** . Shine this in someone’s eyes, and they’ll forget whatever happened from **ten seconds ago** to **an hour ago**! Spit in someone’s face? Screw up a confession? Get caught movin’ a body? Zap! Never happened! The possibilities are endless!” Monosuke grinned wolfishly, his rasping voice singing with dark delight.

“Wh-what the hell?! That’s gotta be bullshit!” Owada shouted in alarm.

“Wh-what?!” Akamatsu sputtered as she stared at Monosuke in dreadful shock, her tired annoyance shifting into a much more blood-freezing fear. The ability to just _ erase _ someone’s memories like that was terrifying to think about, but for it to actually be attainable...! “N-no way! You can’t just give something like that away! It’s way too dangerous! I-”

“Who said anything about giving it away? I’m a stone cold capitalist, sweetheart! And hey, why’s it dangerous if none of youse bastards are gonna kill again?” Monosuke interrupted, cackling at the pained look of realization on her face. “Freudian slip there, toots?”

Mondo raised a fist, snarling. “Can it, asshole, or I’ll throttle you through these damn bars!”

“Mondo, seriously, calm down! Don’t get hurt or worse because of some stupid jokes.” Kaede warned, genuinely concerned he’d make good on one of his threats if he and Monosuke were left to their own devices. 

“But this bastard-”

“Mondo...!” She repeated, voice stern.

The biker clenched his jaw, an argument flickering in his eyes, but he ultimately let out a hissing groan. “Fine. He shouldn’t run his goddamn mouth like that, but fine. What-the-fuck-ever. I’m calm.”

_ “I think we have different definitions of what ‘calm’ is…” _ The maestro thought drolly. Still, her firm gaze lightened a little, nodding. “Thank you,” She said, her glare returning as she turned to the Monokub. “So, what? Since _ no one _ is going to buy any of this, are the tickets useless?”

Monosuke let out a derisive scoff. “Well, if you’re a pansy, my sis runs a goody-two-shoes prize shop over in the Tragic Kingdom. You can play dolls or somethin’ with her. Hey, while you’re at it, I’m pretty sure I saw Tojo goin’ over there. I’ve got a request for her: go on a diet. That fatass fallin’ on me wasn’t fun.”

Mondo _ really _ looked like he wanted to say something about that, growling at him in disdain, but Kaede bit back first. “You know what? Maybe we will play dolls! That sounds better than sitting around counting a bunch of stupid made-up coins like you are, jerk!” She scolded, pointing at the smug prick of a robot with a harsh glare. 

Monosuke balked, making a strangled gasp of offense and fiddling with his glasses. “H-hey, you brat! Crypto-currency is a valid hobby! It takes- hey, where are you goin’?!” The bear howled out half-angered and half-startled as Kaede simply turned and started walking away without another word, Mondo following a moment later after a spiteful sneer at the flustered robot.

Akamatsu didn’t bother giving any attention to the tents she and Owada walked past, not wanting to aggravate herself over their cruel mockeries anymore than she already was. If it was Monokuma’s goal to taunt them all with constant reminders of their past sins, he was certainly succeeding, a faint headache of irritation in the back of her mind threatening to grow into something worse if she had to deal with the evil ursines’ nonsense much longer. 

Fortunately for her, the barrage of sadistic games seemed to come to an end after a few minutes of walking as the maze of tents and stands gave way to a more open area of general attractions and rides. Neither bothered inspecting these ones as closely as they had the tower, but it would be hard to miss the whistling train with Monokuma’s face crudely sticking out of the front as it went zipping along a winding track, the piercing electric squeal of a bumper car rink, or the handful of other attractions sprinkled across the area. Kaede wasn’t particularly in the mood for anything of the sort, but she had to admit that they did look at least a little fun. In a better mindset and without the task of exploring pushing her forward, she’d probably be thrilled at the sight of genuine carnival rides. _ “Maybe later when a bunch of us can go on them together… actually, we should do exactly that. It can be our way of celebrating after everything is handled! Let’s make this quick, then!” _ She cheered herself, continuing forward with a new vigor.

***

The next item of interest the unlikely duo encountered was towards the back end of the Carnival of Carnage. Away from the rest of the fairgrounds was a fairly large rectangle about the size of a soccer field of five-foot tall fencing with an open gate in each cardinal direction. Towards the back of the rectangle were a number of small, barn-like buildings of some sort that hugged the fence around the rear entrance. Over each gate was a large sign depicting Monokuma in stereotypical farmer’s clothing and a wheat straw in his mouth cooking eggs and bacon over a fire next to a few oblivious chickens and pigs, with the words **“Kuma Corral”** hovering above them all. Drawing closer, Kaede could see a number of four-legged figures wandering about aimlessly, as well as two bipeds she was fairly confident she knew even being too far away to make out their features. 

Despite her lingering annoyance, Kaede felt her heart begin to soar as she realized what they were coming up on. “Is that… oh my gosh, Mondo, look! It’s a petting zoo!” She cried out in delight, quickening her pace.

To her surprise, Owada actually seemed to be pretty intrigued. “Seriously? You think they have any dogs?” He asked with unexpected curiosity as he followed just behind her.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Huh? Dogs?”

Mondo looked almost offended by that. “What? Don’t tell me ya don’t like dogs!”

The blonde quickly shook her head. “N-no, don’t get me wrong! Dogs are cute! Just… aren’t dogs kind of… _ normal _, for a petting zoo?”

Mondo blinked, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Er… I guess so. It’d be rad if there were some, though. Dogs are so friggin’ cute, y’know?”

Kaede did a double take. _ “No way… Mondo Owada, the big scary Ultimate Biker, is willingly calling something cute? I didn’t just imagine that, right?” _

The biker seemed to read her thoughts as a faint blush came over his features. “H-hey, there’s nothin’ uncool about finding something cute! Ain’t my fault they’re adorable as shit!”

Kaede giggled, but her response was entirely genuine. “You’re right, Mondo. It’s great that you’re open about things you like! If we’re lucky, maybe they will have some dogs after all!”

Once he realized she wasn’t making fun of him, Mondo grinned widely. “Hell yeah! Let’s get over there already!”

She didn’t have to be told twice. They were at the wide-open gate within a handful of seconds, about to step in when a blue and white flash leapt in front of them with an electric screech of a guitar. “Hell yeah! Who wants to pet the fuckin’ animals?!” Monokid crassly called out, the ear-splitting strum of his guitar serving to make his voice even more grating.

Kaede cringed at the sharp noise, nearly covering her ear on instinct. Her surprise and discomfort shifted into a thinly veiled annoyance, thinning her lips at the arguably most irritating Monokub. “We would,” She said flatly, hoping that would be enough, but the bear wouldn’t make things that easy for them.

“Alright!” He agreed, but made no move from his current spot.

Akamatsu crossed her arms. “... So could you get out of the way?” 

“Nu-uh! Visitors gotta scan their arm whatevers before I let ‘em! No punkasses allowed!” Monokid aggressively refused, smashing his guitar at his feet for emphasis. 

Kaede pulled her foot away from the shattered plastic, her inner musician appalled by the blatant abuse of a perfectly good instrument. On a more active level, however, she was already getting fed up with the blue bear’s unhelpfulness, glaring at the animatronic with daggerish eyes. “Then just hurry up and scan it already!”

“Huh? Why the hell’re you tellin’ me to do that?” The bear asked, annoyed and genuinely confused.

“You just said you’re the one that scans the shit so we can go! So either let us in,” Mondo loudly cracked his knuckles. “Or I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass that it’ll come out your mouth! Your choice!”

Monokid broke out into a cold sweat. “H-hey! Don’t get pissed at me! This is Monodam’s fault somehow! I was so wrapped up in thinkin’ about feeding him to one of those goats that I forgot it was my job!” He poorly defended himself, turning to Kaede. “C’mon! You get it, right, execution buddy?”

Kaede’s body became stiff as a board, her eyes turning to ice as she quietly asked, “... What did you just call me?”

He grinned at her almost pleadingly. “Y’know! We both died durin’ the same execution, so that means we’re basically best buds! Right?”

Kaede silently stared at the obnoxious bastard of a robot with a gaze as cold and piercing as a knife in absolute disgust. Her hands balled into fists by her sides as she debated the merits of slugging the bear right in his stupid face. Her sense of self-preservation was the one thing keeping that temptation at bay.

Mondo apparently lacked that sense. “Okay! Foot up the ass it is!” He declared, taking a threatening step towards Monokid.

Whether it was a ploy or a genuine move to attack the kub, it was enough to scare Monokid into compliance. “H-hell no! I’m too lovable and shit to get bullied! Just gimme a sec!” He frantically cried out even as Kaede stepped in front of the biker, cutting off his advance. Once it was clear they weren’t going to pummel him, some of his confidence returned, crossing his arms across his chest with a grin. “Alright! Show me your junk and I’ll flash you!”

“_ Excuse me _?!” Kaede growled out.

“The scanner’s in my eye! Let me look at that crap on your wrist and it’ll scan you in! Isn’t it awesome?!” Monokid elaborated, apparently unaware of his previous innuendo. That didn’t lessen either of the harsh glares he was getting, but it probably spared him a broken jaw. Biting her tongue, Kaede rose her arm and presented her bangle, Mondo following suit with a clenched fist as an unspoken threat to the animatronic. Sure enough, a bright red light flashed out from his normally pitch-black eye, her bracelet making a confirming _ beep _ and flashing a green light for a moment in response. Mondo’s did the same, and with that, Monokid let out a triumphant yell. “Alright! Now you can pet the ever-loving shit outta those animals ‘til they die!”

“There’s seriously somethin’ wrong with you…” Mondo sneered.

Kaede considered that a major understatement, but she was more than eager to simply leave the infuriating robot behind and get on with her life. “Don’t bother. These weirdos would take it as a compliment anyway,” She grumbled, but after a moment, managed to put a more optimistic spin on it. “Besides, we shouldn’t waste time with him when there’s some cute animals over there!”

Owada didn't need much more incentive than that, letting out a conceding grunt and nodding for her to take the lead. Monokid didn’t seem to mind too much, merely blaring out the Monokubs’ usual irritating farewell before disappearing. Even if he hadn’t, though, it was impossible for Kaede to remain in a bad mood as the pair stepped into the pen and took in the strangely adorable sight before them. Inside the enclosure were a dozen or so animals ranging from chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, and even a tortoise, and nearly all of them were crowded around one of two figures: the cackling Gundham Tanaka and the positively enraptured Gonta Gokuhara, each of the men being swarmed with livestock eager for their attention. 

“Bwahahaha! Do you see, Beast-Speaker, how readily these cloven-hoofed demons submit themselves to me?!” The Ultimate Breeder merrily boomed as he skillfully rubbed a pig’s belly with one hand and groomed along a goat’s jaw with the other. 

Gonta, who was currently giving delicate, awe-stricken strokes of the tortoise’ head as a chicken curiously rubbed at his pants, nodded in assent. “Yes! Gonta can see you make animals very happy! Is Gonta doing good job with tortoise?”

Gundham glanced over to the creature in question, smirking with a hint of pride. “Heh, indeed, Beast-Speaker! See how the bone-bound sage raises his neck in salute! He has deigned to grant you his silent wisdom, so long as you abide by his demands. Carefully stroke his neck.” He instructed. Gokuhara let out a delighted breath, stars dancing in his eyes as he followed Gundham’s advice and the shelled creature leaned into his touch. 

Fairly certain that the two would never notice her and Mondo if she didn’t make themselves known, Kaede spoke up in greeting. “Gonta, Gundham! Hey!”

Gonta looked up, beaming at the pair. “Ah, hello Kaede! Hello Mondo! Gonta glad to see you!”

“Hmm… so, the Siren’s High Priestess and the Spirit of Enkidu draw forth into the unholy domain of Tanaka the Forbidden One? Your boldness is foolhardy, if almost admirable,” He rumbled, his mismatched eyes narrowing as he seemed to debate whether he was okay with their presence or not. “... Very well. I shall reward your bravery, for now. So long as the demons here tolerate your presence, I do not see cause to cast you out. But know that if tested, I will not hesitate to banish you from this cursed realm. Understand?”

Kaede gave a solemn nod, picking up on his true warning through his typical melodrama. _ “He’s still mad about it… but he seems willing to try working it out, at least. I can live with that,” _ She thought to herself, her head still bowed. “I understand. I promise we won’t cause any trouble.”

Mondo crossed his arms. “Only a goddamn coward would hurt an animal. We’re not gonna mess with them.”

“Is okay, Gundham. Gonta know Kaede good person, and if she believe in Mondo, then Mondo good person, too!” The Ultimate Entomologist supported warmly. She wasn’t too certain about that description of her, but the move was appreciated all the same.

Gundham’s gaze shifted to Gokuhara for a long moment, slowly drifting back toward Kaede and Mondo. At last, he lessened his glare, accepting their reassurances with a nod of his own. “... Very well. If you speak truly, then you may draw nearer, and attempt to ally yourself with one of the hellbeasts.”

Kaede smiled, Mondo crouching down by a nearby goat while she began taking gentle steps towards the tortoise Gonta was handling… only to wince in slight hurt as it retreated back into its shell. “Huh? Did I do something wrong?”

Gonta shook his head. “No, Gonta not think so. Gonta think tortoise just not know who you are. It scared of Gonta at first, too, but Gundham been helping Gonta make friends with animals. Maybe his advice help you?”

The blonde looked to Gundham almost pleadingly, the Ultimate Breeder thinning his lips slightly at being put on the spot. “... Hmph. How fitting that one dedicated to controlling the hearts of mere humans knows not the wills of beasts. It’s truly pitiful to watch… so much so, in fact, that I cannot bear witness to it any longer. Listen well, Siren, for I shall now explain to you how to forge a dark pact with these demons!” Tanaka commanded imposingly, his offer to help sending a small burst of excitement through Kaede despite his rather aggressive wording. The goth stopped petting the pig for a moment to point towards a few small dispenser stands situated a few feet away from them, just outside of the entrance. “For those lacking a natural bond to non-bipedal life, a sacrifice must be made to demonstrate your willingness to aid these creatures. There are offerings available there to help curry their favor.”

Kaede heeded his command, walking over to it and pulling out one of the stocked tin cans. It had an odd picture painted onto it, depicting what Kaede could only describe as a muscular, shirtless robot with bull horns in a leather jacket and jeans. It was a momentary confusion that she brushed off after a moment, chalking it up to another weird and likely terrible reference on Monokuma’s part before filling it with the grassy-hay feed from the other dispenser. Once she had a supply, she returned to Gonta’s side. “Good. Now, lower yourself to his level. Gen-Bu kneels before no one,” Gundham continued. Akamatsu slowly crouched down, attempting to find a relatively comfortable position without sitting down in the dirt, nodding once she was satisfied. “Next, grasp your sacrifice and raise it in offering. The fates will decide whether it is accepted or scorned. Whatever conclusion it reaches, you must respect it.”

_ “By scorned, he just means ignored, right? Tortoises don’t have any teeth, so they can’t bite… right?” _ Kaede attempted to assure herself, gnawing at her cheek as she shook a small handful of the animal food into her palm and hesitantly raised it up. After a few moments, a tiny movement caught her eye, and sure enough, the reptile slowly started drawing forth from its shell. She watched in a silent mix of awe and uncertainty as it gradually extended towards her, seeming to examine what she was holding as it paused. After a few moments, it finally opened its mouth and began to graze.

It felt… _ weird _. Kaede’s borderline neurotic worrying about her fingers over piano during her childhood kept her from ever even considering trying something like this when she was little, so she had nothing to base the experience off of. She tried not to squirm under its warm breath as it munched contentedly on the shreds of lettuce and hay, bumping its nose against her palm whenever it grasped a new straw. The urge to yank her hand away each time was almost overwhelming, yet it was strangely captivating at the same time, leaving her in limbo. 

Her patience paid off, however, as when the last bit of food was finished, it only paused for a moment before it started nuzzling its cheek against her hand. Kaede gasped out in surprise and delight, turning to the faintly smirking Gundham. “It seems your offering has been welcomed, Siren. You may now render your touch upon it, so long as you are mindful of its wants.”

And so that was exactly what she did. Akamatsu ever so carefully angled her hand around to gently pet the tortoise’s head in absolute wonder, almost unable to believe it. “Wow…” She whispered out, mesmerized.

The entomologist smiled warmly. “Gonta agree. It really amazing. Gonta pet many animals in forest, but never met tortoise before today.”

“Not even the Siren herself can ignore the all-consuming power of Gen-Bu. Truly, he is unmatched…” Tanaka noted fondly, a thin smile spreading across his lips. “But it seems he is not the only one who seeks to have you under his thrall.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow, unsure what he meant by that, only for a high-pitched _ baah _ to sound off from her right. She watched in an almost overwhelmed awe as a goat casually stepped towards her, lifting up its chin curiously. She started to reach out with her other hand, but hesitated, drawing her arm back uncertainly. “Um… do I start by feeding it like the tortoise, or pet it first?” She asked, feeling a bit silly but not wanting to somehow spook the creature.

“If it is a beast you have not encountered before, a sacrifice to establish a mutual trust is a vital part of the ritual, unless you’d offer your fingers as tribute instead. However, even with an established bond, an offering of reward does not go unnoticed.”

With those words of wisdom in mind, the next several minutes were spent petting animals with a joy she couldn’t have imagined for her entire life up to that point. The idea of her fingers getting bit and keeping her from playing piano had been such a terrifying one that she never dared attempt to pet anything more exotic than a dog, and even that would be brave of her. Yet, in the mad rush of the past week, those fears seemed so… silly. She could hardly believe she missed out on this for so many years over something like that. At that moment, splitting her attention between the tortoise and the goat, the stress of their new situation seemed to fade away for a while, comfortably forgotten in favor of the silent companionship of the only things on the ship that only had good experiences with her.

After some time, however, something strange occured. Mondo, who had all but adopted the first goat he came across, approached the blonde with a grin as his four-legged friend closely trotted behind him. “Yo, Kaede! You had some grass or somethin’ earlier, right? I wanna get some for Okuyasu!”

Kaede looked at him quizzically. “Okuyasu…? Wait, did you name the goat?”

“Hell yeah I did! Me and Okuyasu connected just like that! How couldn’t I name him?” The biker defended, ruffling the top of the goat’s head and earning a _ baah _ in affirmation.

Akamatsu smiled, honestly finding it kind of dorky in an endearing way. “Fair enough. You can get some from the dispenser over by the gate,” She explained, nodding towards it. After a moment of debate, she decided to joke, “Have fun with your kid!”

Mondo blinked, confused, but seemed to shrug it off a moment later. “C’mon, Okuyasu! Let’s get ya some grass to chow down on!” He declared excitedly, strutting over to the gate with his apparent new pet by his side. Strangely, however, right as Mondo stepped through the gate, the goat stopped in its tracks. The creature didn’t make any move to step forward or give any indication of what paused its advance, merely looking around for a moment as if confused and then simply starting to aimlessly wander off. Owada made it a few more steps before he seemed to notice, turning around in confusion. “Huh? Hey, where’re you going? Over here!”

Despite his calls, the goat ignored him, idly meandering around the pen heedlessly. Mondo clenched his jaw a little, marching back inside the pen in annoyance. “What’s the deal? I just walked outside!” He called out. Surprisingly, the billy actually listened to him that time, looking over and trotting over as if nothing happened. “Oh, now you’re listening? Tch… I don’t get you.” Mondo grumbled with a small sigh, even as he started petting the goat.

“Tis not the folly of Okayasu, oh Spirit, but the trappings of Monokuma’s dark domain. His wicked machinations bind the creatures native to this realm to its confines.” Gundham argued in full seriousness, his voice taking on a rough edge to it.

The leather-cloaked teebager looked at the breeder dubiously. “‘Wicked machinations’? The fuck are you talking about?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The moment you crossed the threshold of the coral into the Funland at large, it was as if you vanished from reality itself to Okuyasu. Yet, once you slipped past the veil once more, he readily returned to you. That is not the behavior of a creature that has lost interest in its mortal handler. If Monokuma and his hellspawn are truly the fiends to devise this park, then that anomaly could only be their doing.”

Mondo thinned his lips, glancing off to the side. “Wouldn’t shock me if those pricks were doin’ somethin’ shady here… but what’s that got to do with him not followin’ past the gate? Monokuma can’t control animals, right?”

Gundham seemed to give it thought for a moment before giving a small shake of his head. “Though he had control of the Monobeasts, they were creatures of stone and steel, not blood and mana. Whatever sway he has over these hellbeasts is indirect.”

Kaede hummed, crossing her arms. “Maybe they’re just well trained? If you can train your hamsters to do what they do, Gundham, someone could probably teach animals to stay in one place, right?”

“If it were mere training, would the goat not merely stay in place until he returned? No, that cannot be the case,” The Overlord of Ice rebutted, his lips pulling in a small scowl. “Furthermore, even the most subservient pets in gilded cages cannot ignore their primal call to explore beyond their own lands, Siren. Yet, when given an opportunity to do exactly that, it did nothing but mindlessly return to its open cage. For the beasts here to lack that calling to adventure is… unnatural. A truly diabolical hex must infect these lands to strip something so fundamental as the thirst for freedom from these creatures.” 

“Gonta notice that, too. Gonta not know much about animals that not bugs, but it not seem normal that they not even try to leave or wait for friends…” Gokuhara added, his brow furrowing in thought.

“Well, if it ain’t trainin’, then what the hell is it? Whatever Monokuma is, he ain’t magic.” Mondo questioned pointedly.

“Do not be so foolish as to cast off Monokuma’s sorcery, antihero,” Tanaka warned with narrowed eyes. “That said… a fog of uncertainty blankets the truth in mystery.”

Owada rolled his eyes. “So you don’t know. Coulda said that in three words, dumbass.”

Gundham glared at the other man bitterly, opening his mouth to doubtlessly rattle off some esoteric insult, but Kaede was quick to intervene. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out if we work together. We know it’s almost definitely something Monokuma’s causing, so that’s probably a clue all on its own. If we keep our eyes open, we’re bound to find something!”

“Gonta agree with that! Even if Gonta not good at mysteries, Gonta sure friends can understand better and find way to help animals.” Gokuhara happily backed her words, smiling warmly as he looked between Mondo and Gundham. 

Both men looked conflicted, neither one wanting to concede to the other, yet both also lacking the heart to crush such an earnest appeal from the gentle giant. The biker and the wannabe supervillain seemed to carry on some silent conversation over the span of a few second that Kaede couldn’t understand, small shifts in their expressions sending messages only their target knew the meaning of until they finally reached an armistice. “... Though the might of the Tanaka Empire is more than enough to unravel this web of the unknown, should others seek to lend their aid, I would not refuse them.” Gundham finally agreed. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he narrowed his eyes in a way that seemed to say ‘_ your turn _’.

Mondo almost visibly swallowed his pride as he bowed his head in a nod. “Yeah. We’ll figure this shit out sooner or later, big dude.”

Gonta didn’t seem to notice the obvious hesitance in their agreements, his eyes lighting up in delight as he gave his thanks and returned his attention to the animals. Once she was sure Gokuhara wasn’t looking, Kaede gave Gundham a thankful look, mouthing ‘thank you’ to the breeder. Tanaka looked away, pretending as though he hadn’t seen it, but it was too late for him to pull the stoic card. He could try to cover it all he’d like, but even if he didn’t mean it for her, Gundham did her a considerable favor. 

Another lull in events followed soon after, with Kaede simply going around and giving attention to the various creatures in the zoo. Their mysterious behavior never quite left the back of her mind, a quiet whisper like so many of the uncertainties and questions she had about the strange reality she found herself thrust into, but it was fairly easy to ignore in favor of the happy animals she was attending to with the odd bit of advice from Gundham or Gonta. Objectively speaking, her time might have been better spent searching the park for clues to the potential motive, but she _ needed _ this after the intense earlier day and morning she had. Given that, she couldn’t bring herself to feel too bad about taking some time to simply try something new with her friends. If anything, she felt more guilty when she finally decided it was time to move on, seeing as how it split up Mondo and his beloved goat.

“You can stay here if you want, Mondo. I don’t want you to think you’re handcuffed to me or something…” Kaede offered as the biker gave Okuyasu one last groom over, almost feeling like she was breaking up a family.

Mondo shook his head. “Nah. Gotta go at some point. Might as well be now,” He dismissed, rising from his crouch with a small smile. “But you keep kickin’ ass ‘til I’m back, you hear me, ‘Yasu?”

The goat _ baah- _ed in agreement, almost as if giving him permission to go on. Kaede couldn’t help but smile, the rare glimpse of Mondo’s softer side a most welcome one. “As long as you’re sure, then it sounds good to me. Let’s see if we can find Kirumi by that shop the yellow one mentioned.”

Gonta ceased his dutiful petting of the gathered animals to bid them farewell with a wave of his massive paw. “Gonta look over Okuyasu while you gone. Gonta see friends later!”

Gundham gave an acknowledging raise of his chin. “Yes, the Beast-Speaker and I shall remain here for a time. Should we uncover the mystery of the unseen boundaries, I shall elucidate the matter to you sinners. Until then, farewell, mortals.”

Kaede waved back with a warm grin. “Bye guys! We’ll tell you anything we find when we meet back up!”

With that (and a quick spritz of hand sanitizer on the way out of the back gate), Kaede and Mondo were once again on their way.

***

As they left the carnival, they finally seemed to have hit the starboard-most point of the ship, as the wall was just about visible above the theming facades and through the shadows that dominated the skyline past a certain point. Kaede decided to take that as a sign of progress as she and Mondo continued down the path towards the unknown. The theme once again seemed to shift the further they strayed from the last location, the buildings around them seeming to take on a more somewhat cartoonish medieval appearance as the sleek concrete of the first location was swapped for a rougher and less uniform masonry with wooden accents. The lighting stuck with the carnival’s rows upon rows of lightbulbs that trailed along the buildings to light the path below, giving it an odd contrast between its truly classical versus the merely vintage elements. It reminded her of a certain other well-known park, making her fairly certain they’d entered the so-called Tragic Kingdom portion of the park.

Her suspicions were proven when, after passing by a couple rides of little import of interest to the ex-pianist, she and Mondo found themselves approaching a building so audaciously designed that she couldn’t imagine it being anything other than another one of Felony Funland’s demented stores. Before them was a somewhat small dome of a building in the shape of Monokuma’s head, wearing a hat that served as the sign for **“Slayer Souvenirs”,** with his cackling maw serving as the doorway to the place in question.

Kaede curled her lips in a small pout. “... This place is going to suck, isn’t it?”

Mondo let out a small scoff, already looking annoyed with it. “Tch, probably. Wouldn’t get my hopes up for somethin’ good, anyway.”

“I figured… but, we were looking for it, so we might as well check it out. If we’re lucky, maybe there’ll be something worthwhile for your tickets after all,” Kaede said with some reluctance. Mondo didn’t object as the pair stepped forth into the shop. 

The interior seemed much smaller than the ostentatious exterior implied, only being a touch bigger than the gift shop on the second deck, though mildly less cluttered as well. Blue tiling made up the floor while the walls were a stark red, giving the store an oddly home-like feeling. A quick glance revealed much of the store’s wares, much of it seeming to be fairly standard souvenirs. T-shirts, keychains, drinking glasses, and the like emblazoned with the logo of Felony Funland or its attractions, plushies of Monokuma and the Monokubs, a plethora of Monokuma merchandise identical to the worthless knick knacks in the other gift shop, and other things of little interest lined the shelves and display tables in an obnoxious celebration of their sadistic captors.

None of that mattered to her, however, as her eyes were instantly drawn towards a commotion by the back of the store. Wailing sobs pierced Kaede’s ears like sirens as the shuddering form of Mikan wept uncontrollably in Kirumi’s arms, the maid trying to soothe her to no avail as she attempted to all but drag her towards the entrance while Monophanie watched on in a panic. Kaede didn’t hesitate for a moment before rushing over to them, skipping over all pleasantries in favor of assessing the situation. “Mikan? Kirumi, what’s going on?”

Kirumi looked up from the sobbing nurse to face Kaede, looking equal parts surprised and relieved by her sudden appearance. “Kaede, I’m glad you’re here. Miss Tsumiki saw something… _ troubling _, and I have been unable to calm her. Please, help.”

“She won’t stop crying! I tried giving her some flowers, but even that didn’t help! How horrible...!” The pink bear cried out in dismay.

Akamatsu looked down at Mikan, the girl’s face pink with tears and eyes tightly clamped shut as ugly chokes and whines escaped her. In truth, she was likely even more at a loss than Tojo, but it stabbed at her heart too much to see someone so miserable and vulnerable without at least trying to help. “O-okay… hey, Mikan? It’s me, Kaede. Can you hear me?” She asked in as soothing a voice as she could, bending slightly to be eye level with Tsumiki. Her crying didn’t stop or slow at all, but her eyes opened slightly to reveal her purple irises tinged with puffy, watery suffering. That wasn’t great, but it was a better sign than complete unresponsiveness at least. “Shhhh… hey, look at me, okay? It’s alright. Me and Kirumi are here. Mondo, too.”

“... K-Kaede…?” Mikan croaked, her voice painfully small.

Kaede managed a ghost of a smile to comfort her. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m here. It’s alright.”

That proved to be a poor choice of words, as a fresh bout of tears came to those pitiful purplish grey eyes. “B-b-but… I-Ibuki...! I-I’m s-so h-horrib-!”

Kaede had to fight off a wince. It was obvious something like that would be the cause of Mikan’s distress, but that fact didn’t make it any less complicated to solve. “Shhh. No, Mikan, you’re not horrible. You…” She paused, racking her brain for anything she could say that wouldn’t inadvertently make things worse. Ultimately, she had to change tactics instead of risking some reassurance that the nurse would almost certainly refuse, gently taking her hand. “You’re my friend, and I’m going to help you. I just need you to calm down a little. Remember what you did for me at the trial? I need you to take some deep breaths just like that, okay? Like this,” The blonde instructed, taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment before letting it out. “Now you try it.”

Tsumiki, despite some reluctance, did as Kaede asked, shakily sucking in a breath and exhaling just as uneasily. It was a sad imitation of Kaede’s demonstration, but it was a start. “Good. Keep going just like that…” Kaede encouraged, repeating the motion. Slowly but surely, the nurse began to settle, her breaths becoming a little less hitched each time until only a slight hiccup remained. She still looked pitiful, but she’d at least calmed down enough to understand what was happening around her. Akamatsu quirked her lips up in a small show of reassurance. “There we go… are you okay now, Mikan?”

“... I-I… I’m s-sorry, but I d-don’t think so. Y-you helped me -a-and I’m very thankful for that! B-but... I think I should p-probably wait outside…” Mikan whimpered apologetically, looking to the floor in shame. 

Kaede brushed her thumb over the nurse’s knuckles, making her look up to the musician’s comforting gaze. “You don’t have to say sorry, Mikan. Whatever you have to do, we’re with you, okay?”

Mikan stared at her, her eyes wide and twinkling with something the maestro couldn’t quite place as a hint of scarlet danced across her cheeks. “... O-okay…” She whispered almost inaudibly, managing a small nod.

“I could escort you if you’d like, Miss Tsumiki.” Kirumi offered.

Mikan tapped her fingers nervously. “B-but you didn’t really get to investigate before… _ th-that _…” She shakily said, her breath hitching a little.

Kirumi shook her head. “It’s-”

“I can do it.”

Tojo blinked. “... Mister Owada?”

Mondo curled his lip a little. “I said I can do it if she wants. You and Kaede wanna check the place out, so go ahead. From the sounds of it, whatever’s in here is gonna piss me off anyways.”

A doubt Kaede had only ever seen at Celeste’s trial settled over Kirumi’s features, her lips drawing to a thin line and her visible eye subtly narrowing. “... Mister Owada, I don’t believe-”

“Um…. if you’re okay with it, Mondo, th-then… I’d like that very much, please.” Mikan softly interrupted, wringing her hands.

The Ultimate Maid was once again struck silent, her warning going completely ignored. She slowly shut her mouth, looking to Kaede questioingly, almost as if asking her if she was going to do anything to stop that from happening. The answer… was no, the ex-pianist remaining silent as Mondo stuck his hands in his coat. “I already said yes. Don’t gotta ask me again… but sure. Come on.”

Kirumi’s expectant look shifted to slight alarm and concern, flickering between the three of them uncertainly. Her disagreement was obvious even through her mask of professionalism as Mikan stepped forward to join the biker, her expression hardening in preparation to object. Just as she was about to say something, though, Kaede locked their eyes, silently pleading for Tojo to hold her peace. Kirumi stared at her discerningly for a long moment, an argument raging just behind the scrutinizing emerald. Kaede started to lose hope her friend would let it go more and more with each passing second, all but resigning herself to an argument breaking out partially over her by the time Kirumi finally spoke. 

“... We shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. If there is anything you require, please call for me,” Kirumi conceded, much to Kaede’s shock. She certainly didn’t look happy about it, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to consider that last part a thinly veiled warning towards Mondo, but the fact that she was allowing it at all was what mattered. Owada didn’t say a word while Mikan mumbled out something in thanks as they went towards the door, silence reigning for a few moments after it closed with a small jingle of a bell. After a few seconds, Kirumi gave a forcibly neutral observation. “... Despite his actions, you place a considerable amount of trust in Mister Owada, Kaede.”

“Kirumi…” Akamatsu sighed, crossing her arms with a small frown. “Please don’t be like that.”

Kirumi’s gaze was both sympathetic and scolding at once as she turned from the door to her friend. “Accidental or not, he has proven himself a danger to others, yourself included. It would be a direct violation of my duty to everyone to disregard that simply because he regrets it. To be honest, I’m uncertain if even letting him go just now was the right decision.” Kirumi argued, a rare uncertainty leaking through her stoicism. “Your willingness to forgive Mister Owada is truly commendable, Kaede, but please consider that not everyone shares your faith in him, nor should they be expected to.”

Kaede’s frown deepened, almost feeling shamed from the blunt refusal. “... I didn’t know you felt this strongly about Mondo, Kirumi. You didn’t say anything like this at the vote earlier.”

Tojo closed her eyes. “It would have been improper for me both as your maid and your friend to contradict you so openly. Even sharing the thoughts I did give in front of the group was a decision I struggled with,” She reopened her eyes, her almost motherly gaze focusing on her. “However, it is for both those reasons that I feel it’s important of me to address these concerns to you now. I apologize if I have overstepped, but I will not lie to you, Kaede.”

The words stung like a whip, a harsh blow to Kaede’s already bruised ego from arguably her closest friend on the ship. It took a considerable amount of willpower not to look away as she spoke. “... I know you don’t trust him, Kirumi. Maybe that’s the smart thing to do, honestly. But I really do believe in him. I… probably don’t have a lot of room to ask for more trust right now, but I promise I would _ never _ do something that I thought would hurt any of you,” She defended with conviction, before adding more softly, “... Not after Rantaro.”

Kirumi’s gaze softened a touch at that, her lips thinning with a quiet sigh. “I know that. I merely ask that you be careful, as much for your sake as others. Even when serving others, you cannot forget the importance of your own life, or the actions of your charge. Please remember that.”

The maestro gave a solemn nod of understanding. “I will. I promise,” Kaede vowed. A heavy, pointed silence fell over the pair for a moment, two iron wills sworn to others stuck at an impasse of duties. She couldn’t stand the uneasy quiet, crossing her arms uncomfortably until it grew unbearable and she moved to change the topic. “... So, have you been able to find any of the things Monokuma was hinting at?”

The maid seemed just as eager to change gears, giving a small shake of her head. “For better or worse, no. Miss Tsumiki was rather nervous about the attractions we came across, so if they’re some sort of reward for going on the rides, we unfortunately wouldn’t know.”

Kaede let out a neutral hum. “Mondo and I haven’t tried any of the rides either. We tried one of the games over at the carnival, but… let’s just say it’s exactly as horrible as anything else Monokuma makes,” She explained with a small grumble. “All Mondo got from it was some tickets that one of the Monokubs said we could spend here.”

“I see… that’s part of what we were investigating here, actually. I was curious if any of Monokuma’s hints were being sold here. Unfortunately, before we could see much of what was being offered… well, you saw Miss Tsumiki’s reaction to some of these... _ souvenirs _.”

From how Tojo’s eyes darkened, Kaede was sure it was likely as awful as anything in the carnival. Still, that could only do so much to stop her natural inclination to exploring. “Well, I guess that means we still have to check what’s for sale. Everything by the front looks pretty generic, so we just have to look at the back…” Kaede reasoned as she started walking towards the rear end of the shop.

“Wait, Kaede, you shouldn’t-” Kirumi tried to warn, but it came a moment too late, as Kaede quickly saw what caused Mikan’s distress. By the checkout register where Monophanie was currently sitting was a large and lavish display of items for sale unlike any towards the front. A fish tank with a tiny skeleton wearing an all-too-familiar beanie inside, a toy set of a large blue robot and someone in a sharp-looking white uniform with red eyes, a rather large stuffed doll of a rotund man in a suit, and other such knickknacks were proudly presented as mockingly and tasteless as any of the wretched games she’s spotted earlier that day.

None of that was what her eyes latched to, however. 

No, what she immediately spotted was towards the top of the spectacle of depraved commercialism. Two plushies dangled helplessly from the ceiling, each giving warm smiles with friendly if lifeless stares despite hanging by the neck. One was a girl with long black hair with blue and purple accents that looked like a rockstar or something of that nature, while the other…

… was her.

Kaede stared at the mirror image of herself in a sort of bland shock. A faint phantom sting ghosted around her neck, the girl swallowing uncomfortably as she gently put a hand to her throat out of habit. “... O-oh…”

“I am truly sorry, Kaede. I should have warned you sooner. Are you alright?” Kirumi asked, guilt mixing with concern.

Kaede slowly managed a nod, taking in a small breath. “Y-yeah. I’m fine,” She assured… and for once, she meant it. Despite looking at the grotesque mock-up of her death at that very moment, she was surprised to find she felt… almost nothing beyond a tired annoyance. No matter how awful she knew it was, she simply didn’t have the same overwhelming sense of fear that even hearing a piano managed to reduce her to these days. It was vile, insulting, and one of the cruelest jokes she could ever imagine… but, more than anything, looking at it made her feel drained. Kaede scowled at the thing with a huff. “I don’t know what I was expecting, honestly.”

Kirumi seemed to study her for a moment before letting her gaze drift to the fish tank, darkening in a cold anger. “Agreed. To mock the deaths of innocent people like this… it is an insult to their memories I cannot stand for. As if becoming victims of these games weren’t terrible enough...”

Akamatsu gave a grim nod of agreement, but after a moment, a sudden realization struck her. “Wait a minute…” She murmured, quickly scanning over the display again. Sure enough, it was made up of people she knew for sure were victims from her game and thus presumably the other games as well, complete with (much to her disgust) a bag of marble-sized shot puts with Rantaro on the packaging. It figured Monokuma would be sick enough to make toys out of the various victims of the games, but that left one burning question in Kaede’s mind. “Why the heck am _ I _ part of this?”

Kirumi blinked, her brow furrowing in shared confusion. “... That is peculiar. It would be a strange oversight to make, especially to be the only one…”

“Oh, that? Daddy thought it would be funny to mess with you, so he had me put it up.” Monophanie piped up from the counter.

Monokuma suddenly popped up next to Kaede. “And it was! AHAHAHAHAHA!” He cackled, leaving just as suddenly as he appeared.

Kaede stared, stunned for a moment, before a bitter scoff escaped her. She opened her mouth to say something disdainful about the bear, but closed it, not wanting to bother wasting breath on something that wasn’t even there. She turned to the bear’s daughter instead. “Is there anything here that _ isn’t _ terrible?!”

Monophanie frowned at her, puffing up in offense. “That’s not very nice! Daddy and I worked very hard on these prizes!” She shot back, before calming down a little. “But… if you really don’t like any of the normal things we have here, there is one **specialty item** we have.”

A familiar sense of unease filled Kaede at the words, wary of what exactly that could mean after the subtle horror of the blackout light. “... What is it?”

“Oh, you’ll like it! It’s pretty special!” The pink animatronic assured as she reached for something under the desk and pulled back, to Kaede’s surprise, a flip phone. “If you save up **one million tickets** , you can get a **phone call to the outside world**!”

The once-Ultimate Pianist was gobsmacked. “Wh-what?!” She sputtered, eyes like dinner plates and jaw to the floor. 

Kirumi was only slightly less stunned. “A call to the outside world…? Is this legitimate?”

“It is! Once you buy it, you can just dial someone’s number, and we’ll make sure the signal gets out! It’s such a nice gift from Daddy, isn’t it?” Monophanie crooned.

Tojo’s visible eye slowly narrowed in suspicion. “... Yes, it is. Uncharacteristically so. What does he have to gain from offering this?”

Monophanie stiffened, suddenly looking much more uncomfortable. “Oh… that’s not really as nice. Daddy _ might _ have made it really expensive because he doesn’t really want anyone using it from getting the tickets… but, he also made it so there’s an **easier way to get it** . It’s a rule that **anyone who commits murder can make a call**.”

Kaede’s blood turned to ice. “Y-you… you can’t be serious… that’s horrible!” She refused, pure dread forcing out the words. A more rational part of her brain flared through the fear a moment later, Kaede latching onto the deduction like a lifeline. “And that doesn’t even make sense for a motive! Why would you kill someone for a phone call if you’d get to leave after the trial anyway? There’s no way anyone would kill over something like that!”

“You’re right; the very nature of how becoming the Blackened work makes this motive moot. Though concerning, I don’t believe Monokuma thought this through…” Kirumi backed her up, sounding relatively confident despite the distressing circumstances.

Monophanie rubbed her paws together. “Um… it’s **not the new motive** , though. And you don’t necessarily have to **be the Blackened of a case** to get the deal…”

Kaede’s eyebrows shot up in alarm. “It’s not the motive? And what do you mean by-”

“Whoopsie! Seems like someone’s said a teensy bit too much!” Monokuma declared in a much-too-chipper voice for him to actually be pleased as he suddenly dropped from the ceiling, casually backhanding his supposed child off the counter with a harsh _ thwack _. “Phew! Good thing I got here in time to keep you kids from being spoiled!”

Kaede pointed at him with a heated glare. “Hey! What did she mean by that?!”

Monokuma shook his head. “Don’t worry your little head with that nonsense. Just stick around and enjoy the show, and you’ll learn in due time! For now, though, I’d _ really _ recommend leaving, unless you want to get the same mauling I’m about to give my _ adorable _ little cub!”

“I’m sorry, Da-”

Monokuma popped his claws out, swiveling around to glare at the other animatronic. “Quiet, you!” He hissed, promptly turning back with a ‘friendly’ smile. “Aren’t kids just a wonderful handful? Sometimes they just make ya wanna _ kill them _.”

Kirumi quietly let out a sigh. “I see… I doubt he’s going to tell us any more, Kaede. We should make our leave.”

Kaede crossed her arms, glaring daggers at the still-grinning bear, but ultimately let out a huff. “Fine. Let’s go. But don’t think I’m going to forget that, Monokuma.”

“Forget what, my darling protagonist?” He asked cutsily before suddenly dropping all pretense. “Hurry up and scram!”

The two Ultimates didn’t try pushing their luck any further, quickly exiting the building as the sounds of Monokuma attacking his cub played them out. As expected, Mondo and Mikan were still waiting outside, the biker leaning against the wall while the nurse timidly stood a few feet away as they somewhat awkwardly chatted amongst each other. Mikan noticed them first, smiling for a moment before instantly being replaced by worry at Kaede and Kirumi’s slight unease. “Kirumi? Kaede? O-oh no! Is everything okay?!”

That naturally put Mondo on alert, the man quickly shooting to his feet. “Huh? What’s goin’ on, and whose ass do I gotta kick?!”

Kaede quickly shook her head, raising her hands to settle him. “Nothing and no one! Monokuma just told us to leave. Everything’s alright.”

Mondo somehow managed to look both calmer and more pissed at that. “Tch… the fuck’s his problem? He’s the one who told us to look around, and now he’s kicking you out? What kinda sense is that supposed to make?”

“I think one of the cubs told us something we weren’t supposed to know. He only showed up when she started talking about the phone. But, if that isn’t the motive, then what is…?” Kaede thought aloud, knitting her brow uncertainly.

“Phone? What the hell are you talking about?” Mondo asked, bewildered.

“Huh? Oh, right… I’ll explain once we get going,” Akamatsu deflected slightly, her gaze drifting to Mikan with some concern. She looked fine at the moment, but she didn’t want to risk sending the girl back down on a spiral by discussing potential motives in front of her. Mondo thankfully managed to read between the lines after a moment, making a soft ‘ah’ and nodding. With that line of discussion shelved, Kaede refocused her efforts on Mikan, giving the girl a soft but clearly concerned look. “Anyways, are you feeling any better, Mikan?”

Tsumiki winced, looking down at the floor. “U-um… a little bit. B-but… if it’s okay, I d-don’t think I want to explore anymore. I-I’m sorry, b-but…”

Kaede shook her head. “It’s okay. Really. After something like that, I wouldn’t want to either,” She reassured, pulling her lips up slightly. “Take it easy for a little bit. If there’s anything important, we’ll let you know when we meet up. Sound like a plan?”

Mikan’s often worry-stricken eased into a soft ghost of a smile that Kaede wished wasn’t so rare on the sweet girl. “I-if that’s okay with everyone, th-then yes, please.”

Tojo bowed her head to the three. “It’s just as well. We have been exploring for quite some time now, so I imagine most of us will be hungry soon. I can escort Miss Tsumiki and begin preparing a meal for us all, if that is your desire.”

“Um, I would like that, but didn’t you want to investigate?” Mikan asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to keep you from looking around if that’s what you want. I-it’s alright if you want to keep going! I d-don’t want to be a bother or anything like that...”

“Nonsense, Miss Tsumiki. I live to serve. I would never think of you or anyone else as a burden,” Kirumi rebuffed. “And, in truth, my investigation provided little of interest. Assisting you would frankly be a reprieve for us both.”

Mikan looked a touch uncertain, but slowly seemed to accept it. “O-oh, okay. I’m happy I can help, then. A-and thank you.”

“Certainly. Shall we depart?” The maid checked, gracious as always.

“Um, if it’s okay to say this first… Mondo?” The purple-haired girl called out, apparently catching him by surprise from how he blinked at his name.

“Yeah?”

Mikan’s frail smile grew a touch stronger. “It was nice talking with you. Thank you, too."

Mondo blinked again, putting his hands in his coat with a small shrug. "Oh… yeah, sure thing. Later, Mikan." The biker bid farewell. With that (and another set of thank yous to Kaede from Mikan for her efforts), the four split off into pairs once again, Kirumi and Mikan seeming to trace their steps back to the entrance Kaede and Mondo opted to travel further down portside with one particular target in mind. 

The ferris wheel was all but impossible to miss from basically anywhere in the park. Towering high above anything even remotely close by and with practically every inch of the thing adorned with lights, it stood out as an obnoxious beacon in an unending night, Monokuma’s grinning visage staring down at everyone within it as if to remind them all who was in charge. It was as vulgar and pompous as everything else involving the bear, but Kaede still couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the sheer egotism of the monster of an animatronic. Regardless, their aims had little to do with the ride itself and more so checking the area around it for anything of note. If there was some sort of motive Monokuma was waiting for them to find, sticking it by one of the most eye-catching things in the park was a good way to draw attention to it. Even if that failed, there was a decent chance of running into more of their fellow prisoners who might have found something before them, making it a valid stop either way.

The immediate area around the ride proved to be rather void of anything interesting. The handful of tents nearby seemed to be games in much the same vein as the ones in the carnival, promptly going ignored, while the surrounding set pieces held little beyond some Monokuma-themed parodies of classic fairy tales. Other than scarring herself for life with a picture of Monokuma dressed as Snow White, Kaede’s investigation turned up nothing, much to her chagrin. Paired up with the annoyingly off-key trumpet rendition of Fucik’s _ Entry of the Gladiators _ that practically seemed to be laughing at her, she got the distinct feeling she was wasting her time, letting out an annoyed huff as she looked to Mondo. “I’ve got nothing. Any luck, Mondo?”

“Nothing here, either,” Mondo answered, sneering slightly. “I’m startin’ to think Monokuma was just bullshitting us to make us put on these fuckin’ bracelets.”

Akamatsu thinned her lips in a small pout. “I’m not so sure about that. What would be the point of coming up with a lie if he could just threaten to kill us if we didn’t put them on? He’s scheming _ something _ . I don’t like that we’re having such a hard time figuring out _ what _, though…”

Before either of them could discuss the idea further, however, a familiar voice suddenly called out from above. “Hey, sidekicks! Over here!”

Kaede’s head shot up in surprise and puzzlement, scanning the direction of the noise to find a beaming Kaito slightly leaning out of one of the cars as it descended down towards them. She mirrored his grin with a wave. “Kaito! Hey!”

“We’ll be down in just a sec! Hold on!” He called out. It was a few moments before the gondola completed its arc and came to a stop, the Monokuma-colored doors popping open to let Kaito and Leon stroll out. “Been wondering where you guys were! How’s it going? You find anything?”

The former Ultimate Pianist gave a brief summary of the investigation thus far, skipping over most of the tiresome details of the animatronic bears’ antics other than Monophanie’s strange comment about the motive. Kaito rubbed at his goatee as she wrapped up her explanation. “I see… so, we still don’t know what the motive is?”

Kaede shook her head. “No. Have you guys had any better luck?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. We did a couple rides and whatever, but there wasn’t anything like what that stupid bear was talkin’ about,” Leon admitted, scratching at his hair with a pout. He gave a small shrug as he pulled something out of his jacket’s pocket. “I mean, I don’t get how this thing could be a motive.”

Kaede tilted her head curiously as she examined the object. Presented in his hand was a small circle of black cloth embroidered with the image of a spiraling white dragon, a string attached to either side of it. “Huh… what is that, an eyepatch?”

“Looks like it. Fancier than any I’ve seen, but I met some guys that wore somethin’ similar.” Mondo confirmed, slightly curious but otherwise unaffected by it.

Kaito hummed. “Maybe it belongs to an Ultimate Pirate or someone like that?”

“I dunno, man. Could just be a normal prize or something. It looks pretty rad, though. Actually,” Leon moved to put on the eyepatch, wincing slightly as he fiddled to get it into place. He didn’t look particularly comfortable with it, blinking experimentally a few times, but he put on a smile all the same. “Well? How do I look? Cool, right?”

“Like a dumbass,” Mondo said flatly, earning a glare from Kuwata and nudge in the ribs from Kaede. “Ow! What?”

Stifling a sigh at Mondo’s lack of tact, Kaede decided to placate the baseball star. “I think it looks pretty good on you, Leon. Kind of like a punk-rock pirate, actually!”

Something in Leon’s expression seemed to flicker for a moment, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes as he cast a glance towards Kaito. She couldn’t read the astronaut’s look, but Leon apparently understood whatever he was trying to convey, as he gave a slightly strained chuckle and forced his smile wider. “Ah, ha, see? Someone’s got taste!” He joked somewhat stiffly. Kaito beamed in approval even as Kaede gave him a confused glance, the strange response raising flags in her head that she couldn’t quite recognize.

Before she could even consider questioning them, however, Kaito changed the topic. “Well, if we still haven’t found whatever it is, I guess that means we have to keep looking. How about it, sidekicks?”

Kaede debated pressing on the topic, but ultimately opted to let it slide for the moment, instead clasping her hands together. “Sure! There probably isn’t that much left, so it’ll be a breeze between the four of us!” She eagerly agreed, only to have her enthusiasm taper off a bit at Leon’s slight grimace. “... _ If _ all four of us want to, of course.”

Leon looked a little startled by the callout, but didn’t try to deny it, thinning his lips a bit. “Er… screw it, I’ll just say what I mean: there’s some stuff I want to talk to Mondo about, too.”

Mondo raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m standing here. What is it?”

Kuwata glanced at Kaede with an almost guilty look. “Could we talk about it somewhere else?”

Mondo must have caught onto that as his jaw tensed warningly. “You can say it here. If you’re gonna talk shit about someone, have the balls to say it to their face. Spit it out.”

“Look, man, I’m not asking for some big damn favor here!” Leon yelled at him, irritation tinging his face slightly red. “I just want to get your thoughts on some stuff one on one! Knock it off with the macho bullshit for a second and hear me out, alright?!”

Mondo took an aggressive step forward. “Knock off _ my _ bullshit?! How about I knock-”

“Woah, woah! Guys! Knock it off! Getting pissed at each other’s not gonna get us anywhere!” Kaito interrupted, standing between the two to keep things from escalating. Once it was clear Mondo wasn’t going to shove past him to punch Leon, he continued. “Leon, if you wanna talk with Mondo alone, I’ll respect that. But _ he’s _ the one you gotta convince, and shouting at him isn’t going to do a damn thing!” He declared, then turned to Mondo. “And if he’s trusting you with something he doesn’t want others to hear, you should be willing to listen!”

Owada didn’t look convinced, but before he could try to argue, Kaede piped up. “He’s right, Mondo. Leon doesn’t owe me anything. If it’s important enough for him to bring it up, then I think you should hear him out,” She argued. Kuwata blinked, taken aback to find support in her, while Mondo looked at her in annoyed confusion. She didn’t waver, however. “It’s your choice to listen or not, Mondo. But… I’m agreeing to what he’s asking.”

Mondo remained silent for a long moment, a wordless debate playing out in his head. At last, some of the irritation slowly faded from Mondo’s expression, changing to a slight cold annoyance over his usual brand of anger. “... Fine. If you’re really pushing for it, I’ll listen to what jockstrap over there has to say.”

Leon scowled at him. “‘Jockstrap’?! Fu-”

“Seriously man, shut up,” Kaito warned, weathering the athlete’s glare until it faded to a pout. “Alright. You guys sort out what you need to. Kaede and I are gonna finish looking around.”

Leon scratched at his hair, not quite able to look at him or Kaede. “Yeah. Thanks, man. Catch you in a bit…”

Kaede offered Mondo a small, acquiescing smile. “Looks like we’re splitting up for now… but, later?”

Mondo still looked far from pleased with the whole deal, but the biker didn’t hesitate to nod in agreement. “Hopefully this won’t drag on… but yeah. Later.”

Without another word, Leon started wandering off back towards the starboard end of the ship, Mondo begrudgingly following along behind him a moment later. Kaede watched them leave equally silently, waiting for them to be out of earshot before she turned to Kaito, a small sense of discomfort settling in her shoulders. “So… what exactly did he want to talk about?” She asked despite being almost positive what the answer was.

Kaito put a hand on his hip with a touch of confliction in his gaze. “A few things… but, without delving into stuff he wouldn’t want talked about, he was asking about some people here and whether I trusted them or not,” He explained somewhat cryptically, trying to respect Leon’s privacy while indulging Kaede’s curiosity. He took on a serious expression. “I know he’s being an ass about it, but I think he wants to start trusting people again. Whatever happened in his game messed with him so bad that he doesn’t know what to believe, but I can see it in him. He’s just trying to convince himself it’s a good idea first. Give him time, and as long as we keep at it, I’m sure he’ll come around!”

Kaede frowned a bit, letting out a hum. “That was true for Mondo… but do you really think he’ll be willing to trust anyone after everything that happened yesterday?”

Momota flashed one of his signature grins. “Of course! He trusted me with this, so that means he’s already on his way! If Maki could come out of her shell, there’s no way Leon can stay in his forever! Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, is certain of it!”

His optimism was infectious, Kaede feeling her lips lift in sync with her spirits. “Yeah, you’re right. We can totally do it! The sooner we wrap up here, the sooner we can get started on it!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Kaito called out with a pumped fist. Having sufficiently hyped each other up on the other’s energy, they continued on to the closing stretch of the park.

***

Unlike her random wanderings with Mondo, Kaito seemed to have a general idea of where he was going, having seen the park from up high while he was on the ferris wheel. He didn’t know what most of the attractions he saw were, but at least had a concept of which paths led to some of them. His particular target at the moment was what he insisted looked like ‘some kind of samurai temple’, which he was bound and determined to explore as soon as he could. Given that it honestly sounded pretty cool to her as well, Kaede made no objections.

The theme change this time seemed to be some kind of tropical setting, many of the buildings resembling beach shacks and the streets turning into carved sandstone while lights shined down from artificial palm trees. A sign of a Hula-dancer costumed Monokuma proclaimed the area to be **“Lil’ Jabberwock”** at the entrance to fully seal the theme. She could hear the thunderous roar of the rollercoaster that was visible in the horizon, along with the top of a clocktower of some sort just barely peeking above the rest of the rest of the scenery. 

Kaede and Kaito had just arrived at crossroads when an unexpected shipmate rounded the corner, nearly bumping into the Ultimate Astronaut in their haste. “Huh- woah!” He called out in surprise, just barely stumbling out of the way and almost into Kaede.

The giant figure paused, looking over the two in slight surprise before bowing their head. “Kaito, Kaede. My apologies. I did not mean to startle you. Are you alright?” Sakura apologized, a small, uncharacteristic hint of unease in her rumbling voice.

“Nah, it’s nothing. Just didn’t see you coming, that’s all,” Kaito dismissed with a wave. “Everything okay, though? You seemed like you were in a hurry.”

Sakura was silent for a moment, stone faced. “... I’m alright. It seems I allowed my mind to stray from what I was doing, however…”

Something about that struck Kaede was rather strange. _ “Sakura doesn’t seem like the kind of person to just space out like that. Is there something that could have… wait a moment…” _ Kaede’s eyes widened a hair as she noticed the Ultimate Martial Artist was holding something. In her balled fist was what looked like a piece of paper, and hanging down just beneath it was a dark red sports jacket. “Sakura? What’s that?”

An unreadable expression flashed across Sakura’s features, her fist clenching a little tighter before her gaze simply darkened outright. “That is what I’m going to find out...” Came her ominous response. An intense aura emanated from Ogami, the very air around her almost seeming to warp in the face of her terrifying, calculating anger. “Though I am sorry, I have to leave. Tsumugi can tell you what we found. Goodbye.”

Without another word, Sakura continued down the road, ignoring Kaito’s squawks of protest. She was out of earshot within just a few moments, bound and determined to reach wherever she was going for answers. Kaito looked like he wanted to follow after her, but decided against it, watching her leave with a frown. “... Something’s up with her.”

Kaede crossed her arms in dismayed agreement. “Definitely. Whatever the deal is with that note and jacket, it can’t be good…”

Kaito straightened up a little. “Do you think it’s one of the motives?”

It was hard not to grimace at the blunt question, especially since she was almost positive it was. “Maybe,” She half-lied, not wanting to sweep it under the rug or rile Kaito up on another one of his crusades. “But I doubt she’s going to just tell us if we ask any time soon. We’ll have to figure something out before we try talking about it.”

He didn’t look happy about that, but fortunately didn’t seem inclined to argue when it was clear how pointless trying to connect with Ogami would be at the moment. “... Yeah, I guess you’re right. That can be one of the next things we work on once we’re done here. Besides, I’m pretty sure that temple’s over where Sakura was coming from, so if she and Tsumugi were together, we can ask her about it if we find her.”

_ “Assuming she doesn’t just leave as soon as she sees me…” _ Kaede thought dourly. Still, she covered up her discomfort with a nod and followed Kaito around the corner.

A few minutes of wandering past giant sand sculptures, more twisted game booths, and other obnoxious scenery, they finally arrived at the place Kaito described. True to his word, It was a large building with traditional Japanese architecture somewhat like the ride she’d seen just past Chiaki’s lab, though this one was a much more reasonable three progressively smaller stories that were neatly stacked on top of each other. The building was white with red and gold accents lit by iron lanterns hanging from the black roof, twin rows of similar stone lanterns lighting the path towards the entrance. Compared to the gaudily designed tourist-bait that encompassed so much of the park, this building felt positively alien in the mix, an old and almost hallowed feeling seeming to exude from the structure.

Standing in front of it was Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer marveling at the tower in all its glory. A stone settled in Kaede’s stomach at the sight of the other girl, a familiar sense of guilt and awkwardness that filled her with a quiet dread. Objectively, she knew she and Tsumugi had to speak _ eventually _. They couldn’t just skirt around each other forever, especially in a killing game, but that didn’t make her any more eager to try small talking with Tsumugi when she wasn’t even sure how to begin making up for what she did. Maybe it would be better to come back later, or-

“Hey Tsumugi! What’s up?”

… Or Kaito could call over to her. Kaede couldn’t catch her grimace in time as Tsumugi turned around, the bluenette’s look of surprise shifting into her own slight wince as she and Kaede locked eyes. Kaito was painfully oblivious to the tension, missing the reluctance in Kaede’s steps and the discomfort tinting Shirogane’s expression. “Oh… hi, Kaito… Kaede…”

The smile Akamatsu put on was as weak and strained as her small wave. “Hey…” She greeted, the smothering silence that followed making her skin crawl anxiously.

Now that the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife, Kaito finally seemed to notice it, forcing his grin a little wider. “This place looks pretty cool, right? Any clue what it’s for?”

Tsumugi perked up a little at the change in topic. “Doesn’t it? It looks like it came straight from a ninja story. Oh, maybe the Shinra Banshou is in there!”

Momota tilted his head, confused. “The what?”

Shirogane deflated slightly. “Ah… just a reference, that’s all. We don’t actually have an Ultimate Ninja, so it probably isn’t there. It’s plainly pretty strange out here by itself, though.”

Kaede looked the building over curiously for any clues as to its purpose. “Hmm… I don’t know that much about history, but this kind of building is pretty old, right? Maybe it’s Kiyo’s lab?”

“Well, now that you mention it, his lab had a similar thing going on back at the academy…” Kaito said almost disappointedly, his odd distaste for Shinguji once again showing through, before he shook his head. “But it could still be cool. Either way, we’ll never know if we don’t check, so come on, guys!” He confidently commanded, marching forward towards the doors. Tsumugi silently stared at Akamatsu for a moment, her thoughts unreadable behind her spectacled eyes, before a frown spread across her face and she wordlessly turned away, somewhat reluctantly joining the astronaut. Kaede tried to ignore just how much that stung as she trailed behind the pair. When they got to the imposing double doors of the temple, Kaito reached out to one of the massive golden handles and pulled… to no result. Kaito blinked, shaking his head and pulling his hand back again, but nothing changed. With a growl, he started pulling back and shoving forward more aggressively. “Come on, what’s the deal with this thing?!”

“Be careful, Kaito! If you damage it, you could invoke the wrath of the spirit of Amidamaru!” Tsumugi warned frantically with a cautious step back.

“Sh-shut up! There’s no such thing as spirits, and this place isn’t haunted! The door’s just stuck, that’s all!” Kaito hissed through grit teeth as he started pounding on the wood as if he could beat it into submission..

Kaede _ really _ didn’t need him getting on Korekiyo or Monokuma’s nerves right now, the pianist crossing her arms with a scolding glower. “Or maybe someone doesn’t want us to go in there, so you should knock it off before you annoy-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the other door cracked open, a pair of narrowed ruby eyes glaring at all three from inside. “What exactly are you doing?” Peko Pekoyama demanded curtly.

Kaito flinched back at first, apparently more convinced of Tsumugi’s ghost theory than he was willing to admit, before beaming at the swordswoman. “Oh, hey Peko! We’re trying to check this place out, so thanks for getting the door for us, sidekick!” He cheered, adding on a moment later, “Actually, how’d you get in there, anyway? The door won’t budge an inch!”

Peko’s firm look didn’t waver in the slightest. “I should hope so. I locked it for a reason.”

“Locked it…? Oh, so this is your lab?” Kaede deduced.

“It is.”

Kaede felt uneasy under Peko’s cold glare, trying not to squirm. “... Uh… can we come inside?”

“No.” The bodyguard instantly refused. Kaede blinked, completely taken aback by the blunt dismissal.

Kaito was quicker to recover. “Huh? Why not?”

Peko’s eyes narrowed further. “I just said I locked it for a reason. Does that not make it obvious I don’t want anyone coming in here?”

“Um… it doesn’t really explain _ why _ you don’t, though, and that’s what he asked…” Tsumugi played devil’s advocate, grimacing when Peko’s sharp gaze turned to her. “I-I’m just saying… is this what it feels like when Muzan Kibutsuji looks at someone…?” She murmured defensively.

Momota put a hand on his hips, raising an eyebrow at her questioningly. “Seriously, what gives? We’re just asking for a quick look in. You can still meditate or whatever you were doing; we’ll keep it down. Besides, we’re not gonna mess with your stuff, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I fail to see how what’s in here is your concern. I am handling the exploration requirement here. Your time would be better spent investigating somewhere else.” Peko once again tried to shoo them, her eyes piercing with a sharpness only hinted at in her voice.

Kaede felt the familiar, horrible feeling of doubt start to rise in her chest, as bitter and sharp as black coffee. Part of her wanted to ignore it, absolutely hating the suspicion she felt, yet the logical part of her refused to simply let it slide. “Peko… are you trying to hide something from us?”

It was her turn to weather the full wrath of Pekoyama’s harsh gaze, the ex-pianist forcing herself to remain firm despite the red eyes boring into her. If she had anything to say about that, however, she didn’t have the opportunity, as Kaito quickly came to her defense. “Hey, don’t say stuff like that, Kaede! She’s one of my sidekicks, same as you. Don’t just assume she’s doing something wrong!”

Akamatsu’s expression hardened. “I’m not! I’m asking why she won’t just let us in!”

“If you really need a reason, it’s dangerous. I’m ensuring it won’t be.” Peko cryptically explained, her patience holding but showing signs of running thin.

“What about it is so dangerous?” Kaede pressed, her own tolerance for this roundabout rapidly becoming exhausted.

Loath as she was to agree with Kaede, Tsumugi couldn’t help but speak up in her defense. “You have to admit, Kaito, this seems a lot like what Maki did, doesn’t it? That was pretty important for us to know…”

Kaede was lost on whatever the cosplayer was referencing, but clearly Kaito understood, flinching a little before clenching his jaw. “Tch...! That doesn’t mean Peko’s trying to hide something that could hurt us! She might just want privacy or something!” He defended gruffly.

“Kaito…” Kaede started, only to give up with a sigh, turning to Peko with a firm but pleading look. “Look, Peko. I know I don’t have any room to talk about keeping secrets from the group,” She conceded, crossing her arms with a frown. “But if there’s something dangerous in there, we should know about it. You said it yourself; the last thing we need are any surprises blindsiding us. So… could you please at least _ tell us _ what’s in there?”

The other three fell silent at that, Kaito giving her a look of conflicted disapproval, Tsumugi pointedly looking away, and Peko staring intently at her with those haunting ruby eyes. It felt like the swordswoman was peering into her very soul with how intently she looked over Kaede. After a moment, she glanced over to the other two Ultimates with the same scrutinizing gaze. After a beat, Peko’s lips thinned, a small sigh escaping her. “... Very well. I will let you in _ once _. When you see what’s here, I’m certain you’ll understand why I refuse to let anyone else in again. But you will do exactly as I say for your own safety. Understood?”

Kaede felt relief come over her like a weight off her shoulders, the air seeming so much easier to breathe in the face of Peko’s concession as she nodded in agreement. _ “Thank god… if she’s willing to show it to anyone at all, it can’t be the motive. But if it’s not that, what’s so dangerous that she put up such a fight about it…?” _

Kaito and Tsumugi quickly followed suit, and with that, Peko reluctantly stepped aside, allowing them entrance. “Step inside. Kaede, put your backpack on the floor. You two put your jackets next to it,” Pekoyama instructed coldly. Despite an uncertain glance between the three of them, they did as they were told, stepping into what seemed to be a small outcove leading into a hallway. Kaede set her pack down by the door as Tsumugi gently laid out her blazer on the floor and Kaito casually dropped his next to it, turning to the lab’s owner expectantly. Peko nodded, closing the door and scanning her pad to slide a heavy iron bar into place with a resounding _ thum _, locking it. “Walk in front of me. Slowly. The main hall is directly ahead.”

The hallway wasn’t particularly long, taking only about fifteen seconds to get from the main doors to a pair of shoji doors similar to the ones in Sakura’s lab. Kaede, who had ended up at the head of the procession, looked over at Peko for permission to open the door. At her nod, the blonde pulled the paper door aside, and instantly gasped out in shock of what she saw. “Oh my god…”

Before them were what must have been dozens if not _ hundreds _ of swords. Katanas, wakizashi, tantos, and countless other types of blades Kaede couldn’t even recognize were proudly displayed on weapon racks that dominated the walls, the few parts of it not littered in weaponry displaying suits of armor instead. In the middle was a fairly large square of empty space that seemed to serve as a practice area of sorts, with an outer square of much darker wood making up the surrounding walkway along the displays. There were a few ladders that were propped up to lead to the floors above, where Kaede could see the telltale glint of metal shining in the light, making it clear that the impressive collection surrounding her was far from the entirety of it.

“I-I can’t believe it...!” Tsumugi sputtered out, sounding halfway between delight and horror.

“Holy crap…” Kaito whistled, shockingly more reserved than Kaede expected.

Peko wordlessly walked ahead of them, the trio silently deciding to follow after her at a distance. She stopped once everyone was in the middle of the ring, turning to them with crossed arms and a stern look. “Look around you. Each and every weapon you see is real. I have personally used one of each type at least once before, and I can say with absolute certainty that _ all _ of them are capable of killing,” She announced with dire seriousness, her voice hauntingly even as she described the crushing gravity of this lab’s existence. “And I doubt Monokuma would have provided so many if they were simply intended as _ decoration _.”

Horrified couldn’t come close to describing how Kaede felt. “This… this is crazy! This place is a death trap waiting to happen!” She cried out in dismay, unable to ignore the torrent of thoughts about what could happen if even one of those blades got out.

“Agreed. That is why I have no intention of letting anyone enter this lab without my direct supervision. And should anyone try something while they’re here-” Before Kaede could so much as blink, Peko was pointing the tip of her wooden sword at them with a glare dark and pointed enough to kill. “I promise you they would fall much faster than I.”

Tsumugi paled. “S-such a vicious aura...! It’s colder than any planet could ever be!”

Kaede’s blood went cold, a haunting clarity of thought that felt like she’d been drenched with ice water filling her at the swordswoman’s words. “... Peko… what do you mean by that?” She asked, desperate to be wrong even despite looking into her eyes and _ knowing _ she was right.

“Exactly what I said.” Peko replied coldly as she sheathed the blade.

Akamatsu stared in silence for a long moment. “... Peko… would you really kill someone again?”

Kaito’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Kaede-”

"If it becomes necessary, then yes." The swordswoman responded without a second of hesitation.

Kaede’s heart sank, but her existing suspicions made it much less crushing to hear than it was for Kaito. “H-hey! What the hell are you saying, Peko?! Of course there’s no way you’d kill someone again!”

The silver-haired warrior was unphased by his cry of protest. “I would do so without hesitation if it was my only choice.”

“Stop screwing around! There’s _ always _ a choice!” Kaito barked back, looking almost heartbroken by her cold certainty.

Peko simply closed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Unfortunately, no. One of the first things I learned when I was just starting my training is that there are some situations where killing is the only option, no matter how much we might wish it wasn’t. If I had refused to kill, then the person that I devoted my entire life to protecting would have done so in my place, and I would have lost him. Killing in that moment saved his life, and as such, I have no reason to regret what I’ve done.”

In an instant, the fire in Kaito’s eyes died out. In its stead was a pained, knowing look, the amethyst teen casting his gaze to the ground in a deafening silence. “I… think I understand...” Tsumugi quietly agreed, rubbing at her elbow with a lost look on her face. “I mean… I don’t know what he was thinking. He was always so sweet, but… the way he looked at me and how he started chasing me… I thought for sure that **he was going to kill me**.”

Peko nodded. “So, you felt you needed to defend yourself. This is another possible scenario where killing might not have been something that could be avoided. If someone is set on killing you, they will not stop until either you die or they do.”

“... That doesn’t make it okay,” Kaede whispered, her weariness settling in her bones. Time limit or not, all she’d managed to do was murder an innocent person and damn her friends to a killing game. She’d been in a no-win scenario, but what did that matter for Rantaro? “Just because it felt like we had to do it doesn’t mean it was right.”

“Whether it’s moral or not is irrelevant if it is necessary,” Peko countered with a resoluteness that could only be born of experience. After a moment, Peko’s expression shifted, the stonish glare shifting to an equally firm but more sympathetic look. “That said… I don’t disagree with you. I know it may not come across, given the aura around me, but I would love nothing more than to escape from this place without any further senseless slaughter. That is why I wanted to keep these weapons unknown, and why I will not go after anyone... so long as they don’t force my hand."

Kaede wanted to be angry with her. She wanted to make some big, passionate speech about why Peko was wrong. She wanted to do anything besides look at the girl, see the sincerity in her eyes as clearly as she heard it in her subtle threat, and realize she didn’t have a leg to stand on against her. As much as she _ hated _ what Peko was saying, she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t logical or even unjustifiable. Hell, before she led the Ultimate Mystery to his demise, she’d held basically the same position. Instead of filling her with a righteous indignation, hearing Peko’s words simply left her sad. “... It won’t come to that. We won’t let it.” Kaede asserted with as much certainty as she could manage, the closest thing to a rebuttal she had.

Peko gave a small nod. “I hope that is true, for everyone’s sake.”

The quiet that followed was uncomfortable, but not like the stifling tension between Kaede and Tsumugi. This one was born more out of a mutual understanding threatened by disagreement, like an uneasy armistice. Kaede wasn’t sure what to say to break it, but Pekoyama thankfully took the task upon herself after a few beats. “... I will be staying here for a while to take stock of everything here and ensure there aren’t any entrances I don’t know about. I would like you to leave in the meantime. If anyone asks about my lab, tell them what I’ve told you. Once I’m certain this place is as secure as possible, I’ll rejoin the others.”

Despite her lingering disagreement with the swordswoman, Kaede nodded, her lips pressed in a line neutrally. “Okay. Kirumi left to start making lunch a little while ago, so we’ll probably be meeting up in the dining hall around noon to talk about everything we found.”

“That should be enough time to finish what I have to. I will see you then.” Peko agreed.

“See you then,” Kaede confirmed. It would have been easy to just leave it at that, but even if she wasn’t particularly pleased with her right now, she couldn’t help but feel she owed Peko an apology. “... Before we go, though, Peko… I’m sorry I doubted you. I should have had a little more faith.”

“As I said, there is no shame in doing what is necessary. It’s better to act on your suspicions than wait for them to be proven,” Peko dismissed. Kaede didn’t think that should excuse such actions, but it was at least clear that the stoic teen was unphased by her suspicion. With that partial comfort, Kaede nodded once again, prompting Peko to conclude. “Is there anything else?”

Tsumugi didn’t have anything to say, simply looking away from Kaede with a faint scowl, much to Akamatsu’s dejection. Kaito, either not noticing their quiet feud or specifically to lighten the mood, flashed Peko a broad smile. “Nah, we’ll let you get to it. I know this place is in good hands with one of my sidekicks looking over it. See ya at lunch, Peko!”

Something flickered in Peko’s expression for a moment, but it was gone before Kaede could identify it, Peko giving a small bow of her head. “... Thank you. Goodbye for now.”

With that, the Ultimate Swordswoman escorted the three to the door, closing it behind them with the muffled clamber of the lock reinitiating. Tsumugi was the first to speak up, not quite meeting Kaede or Kaito’s eyes. “Um… sorry, but I just remembered I plainly forgot something when I was looking around earlier. I’ll just… go back and look for it.”

Kaede glanced over at the Ultimate Astronaut. It was clear Shirogane’s excuse to leave was as thinly veiled to him as it was to her, his lips thinning a bit, but he partially played along. “Gotcha. If you want any help, just say the word. It’s the job of a hero and his sidekicks to lend a hand when they can, you know.”

Tsumugi glanced further downward. “Ah… no, thanks. It shouldn’t be too much trouble. So… goodbye.” She awkwardly bid farewell, walking back in the direction Kaede and Kaito had come from earlier.

“Bye, Tsumugi…” Kaede called after her. If the cosplayer heard her, she gave no indication, her footsteps quickly disappearing amongst the general din of distant rides and music. Akamatsu frowned, letting out a weary sigh as she watched the bluenette walk away.

Something softly nudged her shoulder, the blonde glancing to see Kaito with a rare look of seriousness. “Hey, don’t worry about it. She’ll come around soon enough. It’s just a matter of time before she calms down and things balance out.”

_ “I basically framed her, Kaito. There’s no way it’ll be that easy…” _ She glumly thought to herself. Outloud, however, she pretended to agree. “Yeah. Hopefully sometime soon,” She lied, giving a small shake of her head to change the topic. “Well, that was… scary. At least Peko’s on the same page with us about that.”

“Peko’s a little rough, but she’s one of the good guys, Kaede. I can feel it. Just give her a chance.” He defended.

Kaede had to resist the urge to sigh again. Trusting someone was a lot easier said than done for her under the best circumstances in this damned killing game, let alone when that someone flat-out said they were willing to kill again. _ “But on the other hand, I’m positive she was being honest when she said she didn’t want anyone else to die. Even if our thoughts are different, at least we have that in common, right?” _ She debated internally. It reminded her of the confliction she often felt with Kokichi, how his attitude and words so rarely seemed to match up with his actions. Peko might have an intimidating and even downright cold approach to the nature of the killing game, but if it still worked towards the end of stopping it, then… “... I think you’re right. At the very least, I trust what she’s trying to do. That’s a start.”

Kaito’s lips perked up. “Good, ‘cause a start’s all you need at first! Once you get things going, it’ll just get better from there. Did you notice how she’s not saying she’s not my sidekick anymore?” He pointed out with a grin, his voice painted with a mix of pride and delight.

Kaede felt herself smile a bit in response. It was debatable whether that was Peko actually accepting the title or simply realizing Kaito wouldn’t take no for an answer on it, but it was a silver lining to the ordeal she’d gladly take right now. If Kaito was already starting to cultivate a friendship with the standoffish warrior, then perhaps it would be easier for her to do the same than she thought. That thought helped keep her spirits high despite the growing dangers around them as they started marching towards their final stop of the park.

***

Silently deciding it would be best to go in the opposite direction of Tsumugi, Kaede and Kaito opted to continue traveling towards the portside, eventually ending up at yet another wall that they followed along for lack of a better path. Nothing they passed was notable enough for her to bother paying attention to beyond an initial glance for any hint of whatever Monokuma was hiding for them. She couldn’t determine whether it was good or not that the possible motives were so elusive, but she had a feeling either could have some dire consequences.

What did catch her attention, however, was the distant sound of construction work. It was difficult to hear over the general noise of the park even for her sharp ears, but the further they walked down the path, the more certain she was that she heard the whirring of a crane and similar ruckus. Kaito couldn’t hear it the first time she asked, but he eventually managed to pick up on it too, curiosity spurring the duo towards the source of the noise.

When the theme around them eventually shifted again, it was to one Kaede had seen before, the tropical decorations gradually giving way to a more neutral theme like the entrance had as they grew closer to the increasingly loud sounds. The reason for its familiarity became clear soon after, as she could see the elaborately designed front gate of Felony Funland in the relatively near distance, maybe a hundred yards or so away from them. Much more distractingly, however, was the source of the blaring noise. In front of them was a huge rectangular building surrounded by various pieces of construction equipment. Unlike every other structure they’d come across in Felony Funland, this building was clearly unfinished, the plain grey concrete and unopened cans of paint peeking out from behind black tarps showing Monokuma hadn’t had the chance to decorate it like the rest of the attractions. The irritating buzzing of a jackhammer somewhere out of sight and the crane with a long iron beam towering high above were further indicators of its incomplete state.

It was difficult for her to focus when her sensitive ears were being absolutely butchered by the sounds of construction loud enough to drone out even the near-constant sounds of the rest of the park, but Kaede thought through the pain, covering her ears with her hands as she tried to speak to Kaito. “What do you think this is?!” She called out.

“What?!” He yelled back in bafflement, the astronaut cringing almost as hard as she was. His voice was difficult to make out even with her considerable hearing over the thunderous _ RKTKTKTKTK _ of the jackhammer.

She took a breath and raised her voice higher. “WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS PLACE IS?!”

Kaito gave as close to a shrug as he could without uncovering his ears. “NO CLUE! WHY IS THIS ONE STILL BEING BUILT IF EVERYTHING ELSE IS DONE?!” He shouted.

Kaede looked at the strange building curiously. “I THINK WE SHOULD CHECK IT OUT!”

Momota apparently couldn’t hear that one as clearly. “WHAT?! SPEAK UP!”

_ “Oh, screw this!” _ She huffed in her mind, giving up on trying to talk to her companion and instead walking towards the construction site. That apparently sent the message through as she could see him quickly rush up to join her in the corner of her eye, the pair too curious about the bizarrely out of place scene to simply pass it by.

As they started getting close, however, the furious pounding of the jackhammer came to an abrupt stop moments before a flash of red and white jumped up in front of them. “Wait! Where are you guys going?!” Monotaro asked almost in a panic as he frantically waved his paws in front of him. A bright yellow hard hat rested between his ears in stark contrast to his dark scarf and red half, unofficially confirming that he was the one working on the area.

“OVER THERE! WHAT IS-” Kaede started before quickly realizing she didn’t have to shout anymore despite the faint ringing in her ears, lowering her voice to keep from losing it. “What is that thing? Why are you still working on it?”

The Monokub balked at that, quickly shaking his head. “Hey, you can’t go over there! Father’s not ready for you to see it yet! He’ll get really angry, and that’ll be really bad for me!” He refused, flashing a shiroken in warning. 

Kaede raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t want us to see it yet…? Why?”

“Because it’s not done yet! A **motive** isn’t a **motive** if it’s still being worked on!” The bear carelessly revealed as if it was obvious, crossing his arms. 

Kaede’s eyes widened in alarm, Kaito’s doing much the same as he sputtered out, “Wait, that place is the motive?!”

“Yep!” Monotaro confirmed. After a moment, his brow furrowed. “Er, wait, was I supposed to say that? I can’t remember… anyway, that’s not the point! Even if Father wouldn’t get mad, it’s way too dangerous while it’s under construction! You guys would get hurt!” He pointed to the helmet loosely balanced on his head. “You’d only be safe if you were wearing one of these! That way, you couldn’t get it in the hea-”

Suddenly, the crane let out a screeching _ hiss _ as the levy seemed to give way and the iron beam came speeding down, the cable becoming taut just in time to keep from crushing Monotaro… but not fast enough to keep from slamming into his head, the robot being slammed down face-first into the concrete as his dented hardhat rolled uselessly to their feet. Kaede let out a yelp in alarm and jumped back, throwing her arms up in front of her as Kaito did the same.

“Oh dear! My precious child has been harmed by this park’s terrible safety conditions! I want to sue the owner… oh wait, that’s me! Nevermind!” Monokuma merrily laughed from behind them.

The pair swirled around in an instant, Kaito taking a step forward with a raised fist. “Hey, what was he talking about with that place being the motive?!”

“Hmm? Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Monokuma shrugged. “My dear Monotaro wasn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer even before he kept hitting his head. If he told you something silly like that, I’d just ignore it!”

Kaede glared at Monokuma, opening her mouth to argue with him, but a low groaning behind her distracted the blonde. “Urgh… wha…?” Monotaro murmured, uneasily pushing himself to his feet despite the rather exaggerated bump on his head and a pained grimace. He locked eyes with Kaede, blinking a couple times before his features somehow seemed to light up with joy. “Mommy!”

Kaede blinked. “What.”

Kaito groaned. “Not again…”

Monotaro gleefully rushed up to the baffled musician. “Yay, Mommy’s back! I missed you so much!”

“What the hell are you talking about?! A-and stop calling me that!” Kaede yelled out in bewildered disgust as she took a few steps back from the delighted robot.

Monotaro seemed to be completely oblivious to her harsh words. “I’m glad to see you too, Mommy!”

“Congratulations on your child!” Monokuma chimed in with an audible grin.

Akamatsu felt like she was having a stroke. _ Again _. “He’s not- what’s happening?!”

“Hey, what happened to Miu being your mom, you creep?” Kaito demanded, managing to look too old for this nonsense at only eighteen.

Kaede looked at Momota like he’d grown a second _ and _ third head. “What?!”

“Don’t ask!” He bluntly refused.

Monotaro crossed his arms in a huff. “She’s pretty, has yellow hair, and wears pink. It’s Mommy!”

“I’m not your mom!” Kaede angrily shouted.

The red bear ignored her, instead looking over at Kaito as he tapped his paw against his nonexistent chin. “You don’t really look like Daddy, but you have spiky hair too, so… Step-Daddy!”

Kaito’s eyes bugged out of his skull. “Wh-what?! No way! Shut up, you stupid teddy bear!” He cried out in abject horror.

Monokuma would have snapped himself in two if he grinned any wider. “What a lovely family! My favorite memories were of my parents refusing any association with me, too!”

“... Nope. No. Not dealing with this!” Kaede declared, and with those sage words, she grabbed Kaito by the wrist and booked it, ignoring his startled cry of protest as she yanked him along. She eventually let go when he pleaded that he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore, but she only mildly slowed her pace until they were past the gates of Felony Funland. Even if it was still a little while before everyone was supposed to meet up, it didn’t matter; she needed a shower.

A long, cold shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The TV Tropes page is gonna have a field day with this chapter lmao
> 
> We hope you enjoyed all that! We put a LOT of thought into the look and feel of Felony Funland and its different sectors to make it seem like a real park! Number of dominoes got set up here, so we're eager to see your guys' theories on what they eventually lead to.
> 
> Reminder that the Blackened Skies fanworks contest is currently LIVE! Join the Discord to read the rules and join in for a chance at Steam cards and free-of-charge commissions! https://discord.gg/bc86GSE :D
> 
> Alright, that's basically all for now, so see you wonderful people in the Discord and next update!
> 
> -MrCynical


	22. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede follows up on some hunches and tries rebuilding some burned bridges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little bit of a squeeze, but we managed to get it out on time! Hope you enjoy what's in store!
> 
> -MrCynical

Kaede was still reeling from her horrifyingly surreal conversation with Monotaro the entire way down to the first deck. The entire discussion had to have been one of the most asinine conversations in her life. Hell, she probably would have found it a little funny if it didn’t squick her out so much. Kaito was in the same boat from what she could tell, most of their small talk on the way back consisting of grumbling about the Monokubs’ rather unwelcome return in between the somewhat awkward but mutually agreed silence. The longer Kaede could go without thinking about anything involving those bears, the better.

By the time they got back to the dorms and Kaito split off to give her some privacy, mentioning something about going off to check up on the others, she felt almost exhausted as all of the day’s events thus far seemed to weigh down on her. In a handful of hours, she’d felt more consistently annoyed than she had at any other point in her life, not to mention the bits of horror and shame sprinkled throughout courtesy of Monokuma’s sick sense of humor and the existing tensions between her and her fellow classmates. The fact that the vote against her felt like ages ago when a click glance at the clock showed it had only been a handful of hours was a testament to just how draining Felony Funland actually was. As such, she was beyond grateful to have some time to herself, letting her tensions and troubles drain away with the water as she cleared her thoughts in the shower.

Even taking a more leisurely pace with it than she usually allowed (including a brief yet irritating conversation with Monokuma beforehand to make sure the water wouldn’t make the bracelet malfunction), by the time Kaede finished and made herself presentable, she found it was still about an hour or so until the group meeting at noon, begging the question of what exactly to do with her free time. Given that she was only _ just _ getting over the headache Felony Funland had given her, she didn’t feel particularly inclined to go back and blindly wander around in hopes of stumbling across someone. Piano was absolutely out of the question. It felt wrong to mess around in Celeste’s lab so soon after the gambler’s demise, ruling it out as well. _ “Hmm… maybe it’d be a good idea to check in on Mikan and Kirumi? Even if Mikan’s alright now, they could probably use some help making lunch…” _ She thought to herself, pulling out her monopod to check if they were still together.

Sure enough, the icons of both the Ultimate Nurse and Maid were currently on the same deck, the former in the dining hall while the latter was in the kitchen. Interestingly, they weren’t alone, as Teruteru looked to be at his usual place by Tojo’s side (presumably at arm’s length) while Korekiyo was accompanying Tsumiki. She felt an eyebrow raised at that, a touch surprised by the unlikely duo. “Huh… hopefully they’re getting along,” She hummed to herself. _ “Maybe they could talk about medicine in different cultures, or something like that?” _

Curiously, though, a bit of movement flashed in the corner of her vision. Looking over, she was surprised to find the icon of Sakura Ogami moving towards the stairwell of the second deck. That was strange. Admittedly, the ex-pianist hadn’t even noticed Sakura was in her room up to that point, but she couldn’t deny that she felt a sudden interest now that she knew where Ogami was. The martial artist’s abrupt departure the last time they spoke raised a number of flags for her, after all. For her to be out and about after that mysterious behavior rose a few more…

Kaede thinned her lips. Since when was it her place to declare someone else’s behavior suspicious with all the secrets she kept? More than that, when did it become her responsibility- no, her _ right _ to track other people’s actions and investigate them? Peko’s lab was one thing, considering Pekoyama’s stubborn refusal escalated Kaede’s mild curiosity into active suspicion, but what justification did she have to be wary of someone just for walking around after finding something upsetting? Given the schemes and outright lies she’d been caught in, there was a much stronger argument to be made that _ she _ should be the one people keep tabs on.

Yet…

Kaede let out a huff. She had no right to investigate… but she would never forgive herself if something happened and she ignored her chance to do something. Whatever was going on with Sakura, she’d have to get to the bottom of it one way or another. It was already clear Sakura wouldn’t be willing to talk about whatever that note and jacket were, but that didn’t mean Kaede’s hands were completely tied. “Okay, just… talk to her. Find out more about her, try to rebuild some trust, and try to figure out what’s wrong from there. It’s not spying or anything; it’s just trying to become friends with her!” She tried to reassure herself, forcing a smile that almost hurt from how disingenuous she knew it was. 

Even if the words sounded false to her own ears, Kaede wouldn’t let herself be disuaded, forcing herself to her feet and walking out the door. _ “It’s not a lie. I do want to be friends with Sakura, and this is a step towards that. I’m just checking up on her…” _ She firmly told herself as she started to distantly trail Sakura. It was partially true; she genuinely did want to make amends with the stoic girl and become closer to her. What made it hard to buy completely was the nagging sense of suspicion that sent her on the path to begin with. No matter how much Kaito and Peko defended doing what was needed, Kaede still felt awful to be wary of someone she cared for. It almost felt like she was betraying her friends to talk so much about belief in each other and then find herself doubting her fellow prisoners.

Yet, just as they said, it had to be done. Pushing down the worries plaguing her mind, the once-Ultimate Pianist checked her map to see where Sakura was going. Ogami had a considerable head start on her, but it looked like she was going to her lab. If she stayed there for a bit, Kaede figured she would have a decent chance of catching up to the mysterious warrior, and so she picked up the pace.

Kaede arrived at the Ultimate Martial Artist’s lab a few minutes later, a quick glance at the pad confirming Sakura was indeed still inside. _ “Okay, this should be easy enough. Just go over, ask to talk, and figure things out from there,” _ She reminded herself with a breath as she started approaching the large shoji door. Just as she was about to announce herself, however, a muffled discussion within floated to her ears.

“_ Get out. Immediately. You have no right to come here...! _” Sakura growled out, freezing Kaede in her tracks. 

_ “W-woah, is she speaking to _ ** _me_ ** _ ? She didn’t seem that upset last time I saw her!” _ Akamatsu thought, grimacing and taking a step back concedingly. She opened her mouth to apologize-

“_ No right?! It’s my ship! If a bear doesn’t have a right to walk about his own pride and joy, what right does he have?! _” The familiarly infuriating voice of Monokuma snapped back in indignation. 

Kaede’s brows raised in surprise before narrowing in annoyance. She’d heard more of that bear’s voice in one day than she wanted to for the rest of her life. By some reverse-miracle, however, she had a feeling that he _ still _ wasn’t even close to done yapping. _ “... But what’s he doing here, anyway…?” _

Sakura let out a low and warning grunt. “_ Stop wasting my time with your prattling. If you have a reason to be here, say it and leave. _”

“_ What, can’t a guy just want to check in on one of his darling students? You’ve been sulking for a while now, and as much as I appreciate some angst, it’s starting to get a little dry. So, as your dear headmaster, I’m here to help! Tell me, Miss Ogami, what’s the matter? _” Monokuma asked in a voice so dripping with sarcastic concern that Kaede could practically feel it seeping into her shoes. 

“_ How dare you… _ ” Sakura hissed. A tense silence followed for several moments, neither the two inside the lab nor their unknown listener saying a word. After a moment, another growl reverberated through the room, followed by a harsh rustling of paper. “ _ Explain this, Monokuma. _”

“_ Why, it’s a _ ** _suicide note_ ** _ ! _” Monokuma cheerfully called back.

Kaede’s eyes widened in alarm, but Sakura’s fierce retort came before she could so much as think about it. “_ Don’t toy with me! Why was this note in _ ** _Hina’s jacket_ ** _ ?! _”

_ “‘Hina’? That sounds like a nickname. If Sakura was that close to whoever owned that jacket, and there was a note like that inside, then… oh, god…” _ Kaede deduced, her hands covering her mouth and her heart sinking in horror.

Her dismay wasn’t helped at all by the ever-callous Monokuma. “_ Hmm… I dunno! I guess it’s something she kept with her for some reason. It’s pretty heavy stuff, huh? Someone would just have to be _ ** _drowning_ ** _ in despair to write something like that! _”

Kaede could feel her blood begin to boil, a familiar sense of outrage bubbling up at their captor’s cruel jeers. She wanted nothing more than to march in there and tell the bear off, her already low tolerance for his antics completely spent. She wanted to do it so much, in fact, that it was exactly what she planned to do, her features hardening into a scowl as she put her hand on the door and prepared to slide it open. Stealth be damned; there was no way she’d let someone get talked to like that!

Just as she was about to reveal herself, however, Sakura put forth a question that stilled Akamatsu’s hand. “_ ... Who did I kill, Monokuma? I will _ ** _not_ ** _ ask again. _”

Kaede paused. There was no way Monokuma would give a straight answer to an important question like that. He’d much rather torture them by dangling the answer just out of reach with a predator’s grin all the while. But… suddenly, stepping in seemed like the worst thing she could do. Intruding on Sakura’s privacy like this was already crossing a line, but to barge in on her after asking something like that… Kaede’s hand slowly drifted back to her side, pressing her lips thin in uncertainty. If there was even the slightest chance that they could work out the truth from whatever Monokuma said, waiting to see what he had planned just had to be the best option, right…?

The suffocating quiet was finally broken by the sound of mocking giggling. “_ Puhu… upuhuhuhu...! Tell ya what, Sakura. Since you’re such an eager beaver, I’ll give you one itsy bitsy little hint about your murder, okay? _ ” Monokuma hummed sickeningly sweetly, a sadistic lilt making his cutesy tone ominous. She could all but see Monokuma’s twisted smile growing larger as he moved across the room, his feet squeaking softly beneath him with each step. At last, in a whisper Kaede had to strain herself to hear, he finally gave his answer. “ _ Don’t worry, Sakura. The person you murdered wasn't anyone important. It was _ ** _just some girl_ ** _ . If you wanna know more than that… well, you know what to do. _”

Even without seeing him, Kaede could tell Monokuma left with those ominous words, the air becoming chilling in the wake of his cryptic answer. Kaede silently sucked in a breath. She… should not have heard that. She’d wanted to find out what was going on with Sakura, sure, but she wanted to find out _from_ _Sakura_. Eavesdropping on something as personal as that made her feel ashamed. _“I can’t imagine what she must feel like right now. No one should have to hear something like that. And I just spied on her during it… god, what’s wrong with me? I should say something, but I can’t apologize without admitting what I heard…”_ She sighed internally. Damn her and her curiosity…

She couldn’t waste time on beating herself up, though. If she felt that bad just overhearing it, then the toll it must have been taking on Ogami was beyond words. Her sympathy would be better spent on the girl she came to see in the first place. Putting her shame aside, Kaede shook her head and took a breath. “... Hey, Sakura? Are you there? It’s Kaede.”

There was no response at first. Seconds passed in silence, Kaede trying to keep her face neutral despite her unease. Just when she was certain Sakura wasn’t going to answer, soft footsteps moved towards the door, which slid open a moment later to reveal Ogami. The warrior looked down at her, her stone faced expression only minutely softening at the sight of the blonde. Kaede tried not to flinch. Sakura was rather imposing by nature, and even if she was much more sympathetic than Tsumugi or Gundham, her feelings on Akamatsu were far from a secret. Kaede just hoped that sympathy was enough to hold her graces long enough to offer her aid. “... Kaede. Hello.”

Kaede gave a small smile, partially out of relief that Sakura actually was willing to talk and partially out of politeness. “Hey,” She greeted, letting her smile falter a bit as she nudged towards the point. “I know you wanted to be alone earlier, but I was getting worried and wanted to check up on you. There was definitely some pretty upsetting stuff in that park. So… is everything alright?”

The words tasted like ash when she knew for a _ fact _ that everything was far from alright. That feeling definitely wasn’t helped by Sakura boring into her, her gaze feeling more intense with every passing moment. Kaede had to fight the urge to gulp down her nervousness as she tried to maintain a straight face under those harrowing silver eyes. “... No. My murder is weighing heavily on my mind. Though it has been for some time, it is… worse, after something I found.” She finally responded, her answer deliberately vague, yet less evasive than Kaede had been preparing herself for.

“I’m so sorry, Sakura,” Akamatsu offered with a frown, disguising her remorse for intruding behind her general condolences. “I… understand if you want to keep it private, but is there anything I can do to help?”

Sakura let out a low hum. “I doubt it. Though appreciated, I cannot be at ease until I know the truth of what happened. But, I’m certain that by doing that…”

“... You’ll be doing exactly what Monokuma wants, right?” Kaede finished sympathetically. Sakura’s thinned lips confirmed it just as much as her small nod, drawing a small sigh from the ex-pianist. “I know that feeling. It’s almost impossible to tell what the right thing to do is when it comes to these stupid games of his…” She added, glancing away as she realized how those words applied to her own troubled situation, but shook her head to gather her resolve. “But, we definitely have to keep trying. Just giving up is doing what he wants just as much as making the wrong decision.”

Ogami folded her arms. “That’s true. Stagnation is the first step towards death. I have no intention of simply surrendering to the end. However… I fear I may have already made a much worse decision than that, and caused unforgivable suffering in turn.”

“... I know that feeling, too…” Kaede breathed out quietly.

A heavy silence descended after that. Sakura eventually looked away, her expression nearly unreadable. “... It would be cruel of me to ask about your past, Kaede. Whatever happened in your game is not for me to judge. But… I must ask you,” She turned directly towards her, steely grey meeting magenta in a silent command not to look away. “Is it easier knowing why you killed? To at least understand what led you to take a life? Or do you wish you could have forgotten?”

The question hit as hard as if Sakura had physically struck her, Kaede grimacing in shame. “... I… I don’t really know,” She said lamely, crossing her arms for comfort as she struggled to meet Sakura’s gaze. “It hurts. It really, _ really _ hurts. Knowing an innocent person -one of my _ friends _ \- died because I made a horrible mistake… it’s crushing. But… if I couldn’t even remember _ why _ he died when it was my fault…” Akamatsu trailed off, her voice thickening with emotion before she forced herself to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t complain about it when I know how rough not knowing is on you.”

“No. I should not have asked you that. It’s unfair to ask something so personal when you were willing to hold back from such things,” The martial artist reassured, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry for overstepping. It’s just… frustrating, to be surrounded by such uncertainty.”

Kaede’s lips tugged downwards. “Is there anyone you could talk to about it? I’m definitely willing, but I’m not sure how much help I’d be.” She asked, the elephant of her trustworthiness going unacknowledged by them both.

“No. Though I know some others don’t remember their murders either, I wouldn’t know who to approach or how. I was intimidating to other people long before I was ever involved in a killing game…” Sakura denied, a hint of lamentation bleeding through her stoicism.

Kaede bowed her head in thought, humming as she pictured the faces of the blackened aboard the ship that would meet what Sakura was looking for. She clicked her tongue when an answer came to her, glancing back up at the other girl curiously. “... I think I might have an idea.”

Sakura slightly raised an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, talking to someone with the same problem as you would definitely be a big help. Mikan’s too sensitive to talk about anything like that. Kiyo wouldn’t be intimidated by you, but he’s… not the easiest guy to approach in general,” Kaede admitted with a guilty half-smirk before holding up a finger confidently. “But Kirumi is incredibly welcoming _ and _ isn’t bothered easily. You two could talk about it together, if she’s willing. And if you’re still worried about being stronger than us, Kirumi’s way tougher than she looks. I mean, you saw how she was willing to fight Mondo at the trial,” The blonde argued confidently, her surefire tone only subduing as she added, “And… she’s been a big help for me through everything. I’d probably be a mess if she weren’t around for me to talk to. So… maybe you could open up to her, too.”

Sakura listened intently to Akamasu’s explanation, subtle hints of consideration peeking through her mask-like features throughout. When the maestro finally finished, she remained silent for a few moments. “... Perhaps that would be worth doing. Someone else that understands could help to lessen the burden. If she is willing, then… it is something I can consider.” The fighter finally agreed. 

Kaede felt a small smile spread across her lips in relief. “That’s great to hear. I think it could really help you out. Honestly, it might be good for Kirumi, too.”

Ogami hummed once again. “You said similarly for Peko. If this turns out similarly, I believe it will be a wise decision. I appreciate your help once again, Kaede.”

“Of course! I’m glad to help out any way I can,” Kaede said pleasantly, pleased that she’d managed to salvage something from this mess. Her smile faltered slightly. “I kind of owed you one anyway, after everything...”

Sakura’s gaze was hard to read, her thoughts hidden behind a near-impenetrable grey that hid her thoughts like fog. “... To err is human. Though I will not pretend to forget or agree with your actions, I do not hold them against you. You do not owe me anything,” The warrior politely refused, shaking her head. “If anything, you owe it to yourself to use this as an opportunity to grow stronger. If you’re willing, I could help with that. Consider it a way to pay you back for the advice you’ve given me.”

The musician tilted her head curiously. “You don’t owe me anything, either, but that sounds interesting. What did you have in mind? Some kind of workout?”

“Not exactly. Though a dedicated work out routine is excellent, I doubt you’d be interested in something like that when Kaito is already giving you one. I seek to help you harness your **inner** strength.”

“Inner strength…? How can you help with that?” Akamatsu parroted, prompting an explanation.

“You have a strong spirit, Kaede… but it is weakening from the pressure. Sheer determination can only go so far without something to help balance it. At the trial, you implied you used to play piano to ease your mind,” Sakura said, Kaede unable to keep herself from frowning at the reminder of her lost passion. Having someone recognize the cracks in her image stung as well, but she could hardly deny it at this point. Ogami bowed her head. “But, since that is no longer an option, you need something that can serve as an outlet like that. I could teach you some meditation techniques to that end.”

Kaede thought it over for a moment. She didn’t particularly know much about meditation. In truth, she’d always thought it sounded a little boring. Why sit around doing nothing to work out her emotions when she could practice the skills that made so many people happy, after all? But, after everything that had happened in the past several days, she felt decidedly less certain about that position. Petting random animals seemed unthinkable before that morning. Who’s to say she couldn’t find out she enjoys meditation as well? Quirking her lips up gratefully, Kaede nodded. “If you’re willing, then… sure. I think that’d be pretty cool.”

Sakura stepped aside. “Certainly. It is a privilege to teach others in the ways of my family. Please, come in.”

The blonde complied, stepping through the door before slowly trailing to a stop as she remembered what the room had been like just yesterday morning. Looking around, she was shocked to find it was as if nothing ever happened. The gravel looked completely fresh, the weights were perfectly organized, even the ball cart seemed to have been replaced… if she hadn’t personally examined it, she could never have believed this place was the scene of a murder. It was… oddly saddening, in a way. Almost as if Hifumi’s last moments had been wiped away with his blood, gone without a trace he was ever there at all. A glance at Sakura showed her thoughts must have shown through, the taller girl patiently remaining silent.

Kaede shook her head, forcing the thoughts from her mind. No amount of brooding would bring him or Celeste back. _ “A life looking forward, remember?” _ She reminded herself, and with that, she turned her attention to the Ultimate Martial Artist. “Okay. I’m ready whenever you are.”

Sakura nodded. “Very well. Take off your shoes and go to the mat. I will show you the basic form to start, and then we can truly begin…”

And so, for the next half hour, Kaede trained with Sakura Ogami. They mainly focused on various meditation forms and breathing techniques, which while not too far off from what Kaede assumed, actually proved to be rather nice. It couldn’t compare to the wonderful contentment she’d feel after hours of practicing the keys, but it seemed to help relieve a tension in her she wasn’t even aware she had, her breathing feeling easier with each minute she spent heeding Sakura’s instructions. Despite her tendency for her mind to wander and hands grow restless, those habits seemed less prominent as the unlikely pair quietly sat together, a rare, welcome sense of peace blooming in Kaede’s heart.

By the time they finished, Kaede had to admit that she was almost disappointed to wrap things up. Still, she couldn’t be too sad about it, feeling better than she had in quite some time as Sakura rose to her feet. “I think that’s enough for now. You did well, for a first attempt. I hope this has been worthwhile.”

Kaede nodded as she stood as well, a contented smile settling over her. “I think I really needed this, honestly. Thanks for inviting me, Sakura.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Ogami’s expression. “You are welcome. A chance to refocus makes more of a difference than most people think. I’m glad this helped.”

An amicable silence fell over the two for a time. Sakura was a hard person to read, but Kaede was certain there was a little less strain in her voice, some of the rigidness gone from her form. Even if she couldn’t say for sure, the once-Ultimate Pianist was pretty sure the other woman benefited as much from it as she did. At any rate, she certainly felt like she had gotten a little closer with Sakura as a result. 

After a few beats, Kaede spoke up. “Well, I should probably get going. There’s a few other people I was hoping to check on before we met up to talk about what we found. Are you going to be coming to lunch?”

Sakura closed her eyes in thought. “Hmm… I think so. Though I don’t care what mockeries Monokuma made, there is no point in remaining ignorant of potential threats. I assume this is happening around noon?” She asked, earning a nod in turn. “Then I will be there.”

“Great! We’ll be glad to have you,” Kaede cheerfully encouraged. Readjusting the straps of her backpack, she gave a warm grin. “I’ll see you there, then!”

The warrior once again bowed her head in a silent farewell to her, Kaede turning to collect her shoes and leave the lab. Just as she was about to start making her way to the dining hall, however, Sakura called out to her. “... Kaede?”

Akamatsu turned back curiously. “Yeah?”

Sakura had her arms crossed, her head turned away from the blonde. “... You remind me of a dear friend. She too showed care for those she thought were in need…” She looked back to Kaede, and the look in her eyes made it clear she knew _ Kaede _ knew who she was referring to. “Despite your doubts, I can sense that same drive within you. Fewer secrets would make it easier for others to see what I do.”

Kaede fought to keep a neutral expression, ultimately failing with a guilty sigh. “... I understand… and I’m sorry.”

Sakura didn’t offer any false assurances of it being okay, both knowing very well that Kaede had crossed a line, but she didn’t seek to further condemn the lying leader, either. The silence lasted for a pregnant pause before Sakura closed her eyes. “... Hina would like you.”

The words were far from what she expected, Kaede blinking in surprise. A small, reassuring simper slowly pulled at her lips. “... I’d love to meet her,” She said softly. Once again gathering her determination and optimism, Kaede gave a positive declaration. “_ When _ we get out of here and you see her again, you can introduce us!”

The Ultimate Martial Artist gave a small rumble as she turned away. “... I would like that.”

No more words were exchanged between the two, their mutual agreement saying all that was needed. With each other’s reassurances and advice in their minds, Kaede quietly left Sakura alone, both left with much to think about and a promise for a better day.

***

The walk back to the doors was uneventful. She didn’t encounter anyone on the the way, though she simply assumed they were probably already gathering for the group discussion and carried on to the dining hall. However, the room in question was surprisingly empty when Kaede walked through the doors. Despite only being ten minutes off from when they were supposed to meet, no one else had entered in the time she was with Sakura, leaving Korekiyo and Mikan as the sole occupants of the room. She wasn’t sure if the others were running late or if she was simply early, but it had the same effect either way. Shinguji and Tsumiki seemed to be having a fairly amicable chat if Mikan’s only slightly uneasy smile was anything to go by. Not having any other options and wanting to check on Mikan anyway, Kaede approached their table with a wave. “Hey guys! Mind if I sit down?”

Mikan’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Ah! H-hi Kaede! I don’t mind at all!” She happily welcomed before a bit of bashfulness tinted her joy. “U-um, y-you don’t mind, right, Korekiyo?”

“Certainly not. I’m always open to those willing to approach me,” Korekiyo purred out, tipping his cap at the new arrival. “It is good to see you, Kaede. Quite fortunate, in fact, as there was something I wished to discuss with you.”

That piqued her interest. It wasn’t usual for Kiyo to seek others out given his aloof nature, so to be picked out in specific by him could either be very good or very bad. “Oh? What’s on your mind?” She asked as she pulled up a chair.

He must have taken her surprise as a sign of discomfort, offering a small shake of his head. “Nothing troublesome, I assure you. Merely an idea that struck me earlier. You see, Mikan and I were discussing how medicine differs around the world-” Kaede couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that she’d totally nailed what those two were doing, but if Kiyo noticed, he didn’t have anything to say about it. “-and while talking about various medical myths, the topic of Mithridatism came up. Are you familiar with the concept?”

Kaede’s brow furrowed at the unfamiliar word. “I don’t think so. Is it a kind of spiritual medicine or something like that?” She guessed. The anthropologist gave a small hum.

“Not quite. You see, the term is derived from Mithridates the Great, a king that was said to have been so afraid of being assassinated that he exposed himself to countless poisons over time in an attempt to become immune to every kind of toxin possible. It’s a phenomenon that is described in a number of myths around the world in one form or another…” Shinguji explained.

Akamatsu stared at him at him in confusion and mild concern. “Uh… no offense, Kiyo, but that sounds… kind of insane.”

An airy noise of amusement hissed past his lips. “Yes, that is the general consensus of it. Though ancient physicians claimed it as an effective treatment, modern science has found there is little benefit in doing such a thing with almost any type of poison,” The lanky man agreed, his mask shifting with the telltale hints of a smile before he clicked his tongue. “Ah, but I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with you, Kaede. Mikan, would you care to explain?”

The nurse blinked a bit at suddenly being addressed, but nodded. “O-oh, um, okay. W-well, while definitely you’re right that p-poisoning yourself is an awful idea, it’s kind of like an early version of therapy that actually does work. I-I’m not licensed for psychological care, b-but… have you ever heard of **exposure therapy**?”

Kaede shook her head, raising an eyebrow uncertainly. “No... what is it?”

Mikan tapped her fingers nervously. “I-it’s a kind of therapy where someone w-with a deep-seated fear is exposed to small portions of it over time to help them move past their trauma. It has a lot of proven success, a-and can be used in a lot of different ways,” Tsumiki said, a touch of nervousness and restrained eagerness slipping into her voice as she attempted to meet Kaede’s eyes. “A-and… um… wh-when I started thinking of that… I thought it might be able to help you.”

“Me…?” Kaede questioned, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. “Wait. You… you think that could help me stop being afraid of the piano?” She asked, voice almost a whisper and tinged with an almost pained hope. 

“L-like I said, I-I can’t say for sure,” Tsumiki warned, shrinking with a grimace under Kaede’s almost pleading gaze. Slowly, however, the shy girl’s lips tugged ever so slightly upward. “But… I do.”

Kaede was silent for a long moment, caught between a nearly overwhelming joy and a heavy, coiling doubt until it wrapped around that burst of hope and strangled the life out of it. “... But… isn’t that basically what I tried to do already? I tried to make myself do it, and it didn’t work…”

In a rare show of disagreement, Mikan shook her head. “N-no. N-not that it was your fault! B-but… you tried doing too much too soon. It didn’t work b-because you were overwhelming yourself. This would be small steps f-for a really long time instead of t-trying everything at once.”

“Indeed. Consider this, Kaede: can a person run before they learn to crawl, let alone before they can walk? Failure is assured if vital parts of the process are ignored. But, with care, the human mind is capable of truly beautiful recovery from even the most scarring of events…” Korekiyo agreed, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around himself in a cocoon.

“... Do you really think so?” Kaede asked quietly, afraid to get her hopes up just to have them dashed yet again. She’d been so confident she could just push through it before, so elated with the idea of getting her passion back after it had been so cruelly stolen from her, only for that happiness to turn to bitter ash in her mouth. The idea of repeating that horrible night with people _ watching _ her this time… she wasn’t sure she could take that.

Mikan fidgeted in place, worry paining her expression, but there was an odd sense of certainty about her as well. “Y-yes. S-some patients I’ve had before had terrible, terrible things happen to them… b-but, with the right care, a lot of them got much better. I kn-know it must seem scary, but… you can do anything you want if you borrow the strength of your friends, right?” Tsumiki encouraged, offering a hopeful glance at the ahoged girl in front of her. 

Kaede blinked, stunned to have her own words of wisdom thrown back at her by Mikan of all people. Her knee-jerk reaction was to insist that this was different somehow. She had to handle this on her own, and that was just the way it was… yet, the words died in her throat before she could even think about saying them. _ “ _ ** _If you’re ever going to recover from your trauma, you must be willing to tell people when you’re having problems_ ** _ ,” _ Kirumi’s firm voice echoed in her head, her lips thinning in confliction. _ “That’s what I promised, isn’t it? To start trusting other people with it? With… my weakness?” _ She thought to herself. _ “Kirumi said the only way to get better is if I’m willing to open up about it. I… I can’t imagine doing something that embarrassing. But… they already know, don’t they? Everyone already saw what I’m really like at the trial. I’m not fooling anyone at this point. Even if it doesn’t work, would I really be losing anything…?” _

Despite her best efforts to hide it, Mikan was able to read the unease in Kaede’s expression, letting out a pitiful cry as she completely misinterpreted the cause of her distress. “I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to insult you! I-”

Kaede vigorously shook her head, throwing her hands up to pacify the panicking nurse. “H-hey, calm down! It’s okay! You didn’t insult me or anything like that,” She quickly reassured, nipping Tsumiki’s spiral in the bud. Mikan was still staring at her, her greyish purple eyes tinged with an apology in the waiting even as the blonde clarified. “I just had to think it over for a minute. I’m… not too sure about it, honestly. But… I trust you, Mikan, so if you think it’s a good idea,” Kaede gave a reassuring if strained smile. “Then I’m willing to try it.”

In an instant, the sadness on Mikan’s face transformed into surprise and just as quickly into joy. “Y-you… that’s great! Thank you so much! I p-promise I won’t let you down!” She declared loudly enough that other people surely would have turned and looked if there were any present. After a moment, she added less confidently, “Um, or I’ll try very hard not to, at least.”

_ “She’s still so unsure of herself… I want to say something, but she looks so happy. Hopefully she won’t feel like she has to say things like that someday soon,” _ Kaede noted wistfully. Not wanting to ruin one of the nurse’s fleeting moments of positivity, she opted to simply reassure her. “I know you won’t.”

“Keheheh… what a beautiful friendship,” Korekiyo’s slithering voice mused, startling Kaede a little. Though she’d never admit it, she kind of forgot the anthropologist was next to her, making his comment seem all the more abrupt. She could have sworn she saw him smirk at her small jolt. “Though it might not be my business, I am also pleased that you’re willing to pursue this. It would be a tragedy for a talent as wondrous as yours to fall to waste.”

“... Thanks, Kiyo…” Kaede said awkwardly. As much as she liked to see the good in him, he had an incredible knack for managing to say precisely the wrong thing at just about any opportunity.

Kiyo ran his fingers along the brim of his cap. “You’re welcome. Though if I might make a request, would you be willing to let me assist in these sessions? Though I lack any formal training, I do have some experience in happenings such as this... of course, since it is a rather personal matter for you, I would understand if that is a level of trust I haven’t earned just yet.”

She… wasn’t entirely comfortable with how he said that, but as stated, she _ did _ like to see the good in him despite his eccentric behavior. “Sure. I mean, you helped come up with it, so it’d be pretty rude to kick you out right after I agree to it.” She agreed, justifying it as much to herself as the man in question.

“Wonderful! I shall be looking forward to it whenever you’re ready…” Shinguji chirped merrily. 

_ “It’s probably a good thing he seems so excited for it…?” _ Kaede pondered, trying to keep from being creeped out. He _ was _ trying to help her, even if he had an odd set of priorities behind it. It would be nice if he could be a little less unsettling, but she was more or less content to simply accept it as normal for Korekiyo and not take it personally.

The dining hall began to fill fairly soon after that conversation. Sakura was the first to arrive, followed by Peko some minutes later, and then a slow but steady trickle of other students after that. Kaede excused herself from Kiyo’s table when Kaito strolled in with Gundham and Gonta in tow, figuring the anthropologist would be interested in hearing Tanaka’s eccentric descriptions and not wanting to force Gonta to separate from his unlikely friend. Given that Kaito was bickering with the Dark Lord as usual, she figured she was probably doing everyone a favor by interrupting their back and forth and thus sparing the remaining blackened another series of long winded comic book speeches. Kaito was more pleased for a chance to hang out with one of his sidekicks than he was disappointed to not get to fight Gundham anyways, so it worked out pretty well.

Tsumugi, Chiaki, Mondo, and Leon (notably sans an eyepatch) were the last to enter, the former two seeming to be in the midst of a fairly animated conversation about a niche game or something of the like while the latter pair were somewhat awkwardly following behind. Kaito called the men over with a grin, not seeming to notice Tsumugi pointedly looking away from them once she realized who was sitting there. Kaede could only sigh to herself, sending a silent thanks to Chiaki when the gamer tapped on Shirogane’s shoulder and led her to a different table. The biker and baseball star joined them, Kaede giving a smile and wave that Mondo acknowledged with a nod and Leon hesitantly and somewhat lamely returned. “Hey, guys!”

“Yo.” Mondo greeted in turn.

“Hey...!” Came Leon’s more unsure welcome, his voice sounding like he was trying to put on a casualness he didn’t feel. A quick look at his almost painful looking grin that failed to reach his eyes confirmed as much, to Kaede’s concern. She didn’t have any time to think about it, though, as Leon quickly tried to strike up a conversation. “Hope we’re not too late! Being a couple minutes off is cool for a rockstar, but I could seriously go for some grub, y’know?”

Kaito waved a hand, leaning back in his seat. “Nah, it hasn’t started yet. I think they were waiting for everyone to get here first before they started bringing things out. Kirumi’s probably gonna be out here- hey, how’s that for timing?” He commented as the maid in question stepped out of the kitchen less than a moment after his remark pushing a cart of food, Teruteru moving his own not far behind. 

It wasn’t long before the serving carts were set up, the seemingly now-standard buffet available for anyone interested. Kaede decided to skip out, her appetite not quite recovered from her disgust at Felony Funland’s sick joke of a restaurant, but most of her peers were quick to grab a plate of something. A few minutes after the last person claimed their meal, Kirumi spoke up above the idle chatter of the room. “Excuse me, if I may have everyone’s attention? If everyone is prepared, I believe it would be a good idea to discuss what we found on the third deck.” The maid announced, more or less officially calling the meeting to order.

For the most part, it wasn’t anything Kaede hadn’t seen herself at least in passing. Aside from Chiaki having a minor resurgence of her earlier gushing over her lab and Gundham’s ever baffling interpretations of the world around him, everyone described seeing essentially the same things as her in between bites of their meal. It wasn’t particularly notable, the blonde offering a handful of comments throughout and bringing up the occasional thing no one else seemed to have found. There were two large exceptions to this.

The first was rather early into the discussion, with Kaito explaining what he and Leon found together. While it started off with things Kaede was mostly familiar with like the city-esque area she and Mondo initially found (apparently called **“Towa-Morrow Land”** according to a sign the astronaut mentioned), there was a large surprise when he went on to describe a stop on their search of the Carnival of Carnage. “... and we ended up finding **Leon’s lab** right after that! Isn’t that awesome?!” The astronaut gushed, drawing a look of surprise from Kaede and a groan from Kuwata.

“Dude, seriously, shut up about it. It’s mega uncool…” Leon grumbled, pouting and narrowing his eyes in annoyance as he crossed his arms.

Ignoring the lab’s owner, Kaede looked to Kaito quizzically. “Hang on, you found Leon’s lab? Mondo and I looked all over, but we didn’t see anything like that. Where was it?”

“Pretty close to the back end of the carnival, I’d say. Maybe ten minutes down the road a bit from that motorcycle cage?” Kaito guesstimated with a small shrug.

Kaede winced a bit. “Oh… guess that explains why we didn’t find it…” She quietly mused more to herself than anyone in particular.

“You’re not missing much. Like, at all.” Leon sardonically piped up.

Kaito scowled at him. “Hey, don’t be like that! Baseball’s awesome! You of all people gotta appreciate how cool it is to have a mini diamond and some batting cages around!”

“Like hell I do! I’ve already been over this a million times; I’m not touching a damn bat or ball for as long as I live!” Leon shouted back, his face taking on a few shades of his hair color in anger.

Kaede inserted herself into the argument before it could get too out of hand. “Woah! Guys! Calm down!” She instructed, getting two half-glares for her efforts. She wouldn’t back down, though, crossing her arms assertively. “If he doesn’t like his lab, that’s his business, Kaito. Not everyone still likes what they used to,” She emphasized with a pointed frown, drawing a slight look of guilt from the astronaut. He still looked poised to argue with her, however, making her add an addendum to it. “Besides, there’s nothing saying you can’t use it if you want. Leon would just have to unlock it. You don’t mind, do you?”

Leon’s frown deepened. “... Tch… fine, I guess not. But he better not bug me about playing, alright? ‘Cause I’m not!”

Kaito still didn’t look too happy. “You’re only screwing yourself by being this stubborn,” He grumbled, but nodded. “But fine. A deal’s a deal. If you keep it open, I won’t bug you about that game you owe me.” Momota lightly snarked, smirking at Kuwata’s glower. 

“What the hell ever, man. If it means you’ll shut up about it, we’ll go after we’re done here.”

Kaito beamed. “Great! You guys should come too!” He said as he turned to the biker and musician.

Kaede smiled a little. “Sure! I don’t have much else going on, and seeing another lab might be neat.”

Leon rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother complaining. Mondo shrugged. “You guys do whatever. I’m not dragging my ass all the way upstairs to deal with more of Monokuma’s bullshit today.”

“Suit yourself,” Kaito conceded, giving a shrug of his own before he started pulling at his goatee. “Now, where was I? Oh, right! Once Leon locked things up there…”

For the next while, it fell back to the initial routine of sharing discoveries with the odd bit of banter. It remained that way until the conversation eventually turned to the contents of the Lil’ Jabberwock section of the park. Being the primary people to explore it, Tsumugi and Sakura were taking the lead in the discussion. “Hmm… I don’t think there was much there that was plainly interesting, for the most part,” Tsumugi hummed unsurely, lazily cupping her chin in her palm. “Other than Peko’s lab-” She shot a quick glance at the swordswoman in case she’d managed to say too much with just that, only seeming to relax when Peko’s even stare turned away from the bluenette. “-it seemed like pretty standard stuff for a theme park. A roller coaster, some game booths, a **funhouse**… just general things like that, really.”

It would have been completely notable as far as Akamatsu was concerned if it weren’t for the sharp reactions of two of their ranks. “... Tsumugi, did you just say there was a **funhouse**? Did that funhouse happen to have areas with strawberries or grapes on the wall?” Chiaki asked in deadly seriousness, her soft pinkish eyes widening with hints of worry. In response, Tsumugi’s eyes widened in shock

“How did you know that?? But yeah, they did. It wasn’t really that interesting, though. It was pretty empty and kind of gave me a headache-”

“You went inside it?” Chiaki interrupted, sitting up as those hints of concern bloomed into alarm.

“Um… yeah… is there something strange about that…?” Tsumugi countered cautiously, her brow furrowing at the sudden suspicion.

“You were so foolish as to stray into Monokuma’s garish den of villainy, and yet you stand before us now? How?” Gundham demanded. At Shirogane’s puzzled look, his voice dropped to a growl. “Out with it, knave! How did you leave the funhouse?”

Tsumugi recoiled at the breeder’s suddenly sharp tone. “W-we just walked out! I plainly don’t know what else you want me to say!”

Before Gundham could give whatever tongue-lashing his glare implied was on the way, Sakura spoke up in the cosplayer’s defense. “It’s true. Once we passed the house of mirrors and finished exploring an area adorned with grapes on the walls, we went back to exploring the maze, and discovered elsewhere in it an elevator that led to an area adorned with strawberries, which seemed to be fairly similar to the Grape house from before, barring a couple of differently named rooms. Finally, on the last trip we took through the mirror maze after looking around there, we discovered an open doorway that led to a tall, spacious room, likely in between the two houses from what I was able to gather. Aside from some doors with pictures of fruit on them that seemed to be locked, there was nothing else of interest there, nor anywhere else from what we could tell, so we headed back the way we came,” The martial artist explained calmly, a hint of expectant curiosity entering her voice as she continued. “From what you’ve said, however, it sounds like you two have had a different experience with it before.”

“... Yeah. We did,” Chiaki said cryptically, sharing a look with Gundham. Tanaka’s expression was hard to read, but Kaede thought he looked annoyed -almost bitter, even- at Sakura’s description of the place. Nanami shook her head. “But it sounds like this funhouse is a little different from ours. We didn’t have a mirror maze… or an exit. Is there anything else you can tell us about it?”

Tsumugi returned to rubbing her cheek, frowning. “Not really. Like I said, it was pretty empty, and the colors were hurting my eyes, so we were mostly trying to get out as soon as we could after that elevator ride. There was this weird Monokuma museum, and the mirrors on the way in were kind of freaky, but that was about it. I really didn’t get those strange hallways, either…”

A low, humorless scoff erupted from the Dark Overlord of Ice. “The tomb of Nekomaru Nidai, turned into a mere tourist attraction? Bah! To do such a disservice to the Mechanical Warrior… I should have expected nothing less of a lowly cur like Monokuma…” Gundham hissed, glaring at the room in general.

“So, what? That place was a bust too?” Mondo summed up, a little annoyed by encountering yet another dead end on their search for Monokuma’s clues.

Chiaki rubbed at her chin in thought. “I don’t know about that. I can’t say anything for sure, but… Monokuma wouldn’t put something like that here without a reason. I think.”

While Nanami seemed to delve into thought about that, Kirumi retook control of the conversation. “Though I am curious about that as well, I have to agree with Mister Owada. Despite our exploration, none of us seem to have located the new motive. That seems concerning to me.”

Kaede let out a hum, thinning her lips. “Well… Kaito and I did find something, but we couldn’t get a good look at it.”

Twelve sets of curious eyes flicked to her and Kaito in an instant. “Oh? How interesting. Please, don’t keep us in suspense…” Kiyo purred.

“Over by the entrance, we found a building under construction, but one of the Monokubs stopped us when we tried to go inside. He told us we couldn’t go there because the motive wasn’t ready yet,” Kaede explained, thinking back to see if there were any clues to what it might have been. “Since Monokuma smacked the thing to the ground as soon as he said that, I think it’s a safe bet that whatever that place is, it’s the motive.”

Kirumi put a gloved finger to her chin. “Thinking back to it, he did something similar with Monophanie, did he not? It’s too specific to be coincidence.”

“That’s… strange. In my game, there wasn't even an indication of the motives until Monokuma had them prepared. That seems like an ameteur mistake for him.” Peko noted, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Kaito scoffed. “Maybe, but it’s pretty normal for the Monokubs to botch whatever he was trying to do. Those weirdos are probably doing it intentionally to try and throw us off whatever Monokuma’s doing.”

Kirumi folded her hands in front of her, a veiled look of displeasure crossing her features. “Perhaps, though regardless of their reasoning, it still leaves us with the mystery of whatever Monokuma’s still preparing. Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll get an answer for that until he wants us to.”

Akamatsu half-expected the black and white devil to pop up in response, but to both her relief and slight concern, he didn’t seem interested in taking the time to toy with them. She’d like to think it was a sign of the bear simply not having a bit in mind rather than an indication of him taking that time to plot out more of his awful tricks, but his presence wasn’t missed either way. On the outside, she put on a much braver face, smiling at the others encouragingly. “No matter what the motive is or when it comes, we just have to be smart and face it together. As long as we’re a group, we can handle whatever he throws at us no problem. Right guys?”

The silence that followed was deafening. No one objected outright, but the flat looks boring into her from more than a few of her peers made it clear she was _ not _ the one they wanted to hear that sentiment from, especially the day after two of them died. Her smile faltered under the judging eyes of the other blackened, turning to a grimace before she dejectedly closed her mouth after a few moments. Kaito let out a huff, glaring at them. “C’mon, of course she’s right! We’ve got this!”

That garnered a few soft sounds of agreement (and an apology from Mikan for not doing so sooner), but the silent opposition was still palpable, much to Kaede’s shame. It was a harsh reminder that even those on her side weren’t without their doubts, one that weighed no easier on her already badly bruised ego. Kaede stared down at the tablecloth as if she could find the answers to her problems in it as Kirumi mercifully took the spotlight off of her. “... With that said, is there anything else left to discuss?”

Another round of silence, this one less tense and more expectant as the students glanced around for anyone to speak up. When no one rose to the occasion, Kirumi simply bowed her head. “Then I believe we’ve addressed the matter at hand as much as we can for now. Should any of us find something important, please, let us know immediately. Thank you.”

That was more or less the end of lunch. Though most of them stayed gathered to chat and finish their meals, those who were there only for the discussion quickly departed, more and more students wandering off in the minutes following. Kaede’s disappointment still lingered even as the conversation shifted away from the park and her shortcomings, but she tried her best to ignore it. Dwelling on her guilt wouldn’t make it go away any sooner. It was easy enough to smile at Leon and Kaito’s banter, soon enough bringing herself to start joining in on it too. _ “I just have to get closer to everyone. Once I can prove myself to them again, everything will be okay. I just have to keep trying…” _ She assured herself, her smile becoming a bit more genuine each time she repeated that mantra.

She had to believe it, so she would. No matter what, she’d keep pressing until she could give a rallying cry like that and have people truly believe it again. Even if the road to that was looking long and grim, it’d be possible if she focused on one step at a time. That was the comfort that she held with her when she, Leon, and Kaito finally departed together to go to the Ultimate Baseball Star’s lab, and it was a convincing enough lie to push her doubts to the back of her mind on the way.

***

After the annoyingly long walk back to Felony Funland itself and then another ten minutes to get over to the Carnival of Carnage, Kaede was _ really _ hoping the lab turned out to be worth her while. She’d mostly gone along with the pair as an opportunity to try talking to Leon on the way, to somewhat mixed results. The athlete made awkward small talk with her if directly addressed, but almost always either let the conversation fizzle out or changed the topic to something that would get Kaito to lead it. She couldn’t be totally disappointed -stilted as they were, the few things he did say to her were still more than he had in the near-week they’d known each other outside of the trial- but it was a little frustrating to not be able to crack him just yet. Still, whatever he and Kaito talked about seemed to slowly be drawing Kuwata out of his shell, so she’d count her blessings where she could.

However, even if she’d had some muddled success with Leon, that didn’t change the fact that she was getting pretty sick of walking. That went double when they arrived at the park and once again had to deal with the constant cacophony of off-key music and howling rides the entire time they marched towards their destination. If the journey was supposed to be better than the destination, then that didn’t spell good things for Leon’s lab… Kaede shook her head. _ “Come on, don’t be so negative. Kaito wouldn’t be so excited if it wasn’t at least a little neat. Of course things are gonna seem bad if you’re already in a bad mood, so just try to be excited for it!” _

After what felt like a small eternity, they finally reached what she assumed was their destination. Before the three stood a large pen of some sort that stretched a fair distance left and right, with another pair of walls of indeterminable length stretching presumably to the back wall of the ship serving to complete the massive rectangle. It wasn’t particularly easy to see what was inside of it from where they were standing, but Kaede could vaguely make out some structures inside. The most obvious clue to the place’s identity besides Leon’s scowl was the flashy light-up sign above the gate that was shaped to look like two crossing baseball bats behind the words **“Final Strike Fielders”**.

Kaede had to admit, putting the foreboding name aside, she did feel some of her earlier curiosity resurging now that she was actually there instead of just going over what it would be like in her head. “Huh… this actually looks pretty neat!” The maestro cheered, clasping her hands together.

Kuwata didn’t share her sentiments, letting out a derisive scoff. “Don’t get your hopes up. Trust me, this place seriously sucks.”

“Don’t listen to him. I didn’t get a close look, but everything I’ve seen around here rocks!” Kaito refuted with a grin.

The redhead grumbled something under his breath with a scowl, marching over the gate and tapping his monopod against a scanner on one door of it. The metal let out a clanking sound before it lazily swung open to invite the trio of Ultimates inside. Leon shoved his pad back into his jacket pocket as he looked to his companions and crossed his arms. “Alright, I got this stupid baseball junk open, so I’m done. Do whatever, but leave me out of it, alright?”

“Come on, man, what’d we talk about earlier? Don’t just bail the second you can!” Kaito nagged as he put a hand on his hip.

Kaede gave the astronaut a scolding look. “Kaito-”

“I said I wouldn’t bother him about playing, and I’m not! That doesn’t mean I’m just gonna let him ignore his potential!” Momota quickly defended, pumping a fist in the wannabe rocker’s direction.

Kuwata sneered at that. “Don’t start yapping at me about potential, man! I don’t need baseball to be who I wanna be, and I don’t need other people telling me I’m screwing up because I’m not exactly what they want me to be! So if you’re gonna say something like that, just shove it, alright?!”

Kaede raised a hand appeasingly. “Guys-

“I know you don’t! I’m saying that running away from things won’t help you! You got that earlier, so why are you being stubborn now?!” Kaito shot back, ignoring her completely.

“Screw you! I’m not- this is totally different! Get off my ass, alright?!” Leon barked, and with that, Akamatsu’s patience snapped.

“Hey! Both of you need to shut up and calm down!” She shouted, once again having to be the one to break up a fight between the two stubborn Ultimates. Both looked poised to tell her off and go back at each other’s throats, but Kaede didn’t give them the chance, fixing them both with a harsh glare. “Seriously, why are you two fighting again all the sudden? I thought you guys were starting to get along!”

Kaito huffed, tensing his jaw. “We were! And we still are! I’m just trying to get him to step up!” Momota argued, turning his lavender eyes to his least-willing sidekick.

“Just because I ain’t messing with some stupid crap I wanna leave behind doesn’t mean I’m slacking off or being a loser!” The ex-baseball player growled. “I’m doing this as a favor for you! Why are YOU being such a jackass?!”

“Okay, seriously, enough!” Kaede called out in exasperation. “Leon, Kaito’s just trying to help you. He’s not trying to control you or anything like that,” She turned her glare to the Ultimate Astronaut before he could try to hop in. “But you’re seriously pushing way too hard, Kaito. Back off a little.”

Both Leon and Momota balked in surprise, the latter’s expression falling into a stubborn frown. “Tch...! Come on, Kaede! I’m just saying he shouldn’t be so quick to give up!”

“On what? His talent?” Kaede pressed, narrowing her eyes in a way that practically dared him to say that to _ her _ of all people.

“In general,” Kaito countered, careful enough not to take the bait. His features softened slightly as he looked over towards Leon. “Look, I’m sorry for going overboard there. But I’m not just trying to be an ass here. I’m getting on you because you didn’t even look around this place before you locked it up the first time. These things are supposed to reflect who we are, but it’s pissing me off how you just want to ignore it… and I don’t just mean the lab.”

Leon’s scowl didn’t leave him. “I never asked to do baseball, let alone be good at it! I don’t give a shit about sports, or scholarships, or major league, or anything like that! THAT is what that place is!” He yelled, throwing a hand in the direction of the lab. “But you know what it’s not?! It’s not me! It sure as hell isn’t after-” He stopped suddenly, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth with a long hiss. “... I don’t want to. End of story.”

Kaede’s eyebrows knitted in concern. “Leon…”

“... Alright.”

The musicians, both the real one and the wannabe, turned to Kaito in astonished confusion. “... Huh?” Leon asked what Kaede was thinking, looking as if he’d been smacked.

Kaito thinned his lips, a serious glint in his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying I agree with it. I think you’re wrong here,” He clarified, making Leon’s face drop to reignited frustration before he raised a hand. “But if you’re dead set on leaving it behind, then that’s your choice. What matters is what you do after. You gotta push yourself towards your passion! That’s the only real guide anyone has in the universe, so you have to go wherever it does! So long as you’re doing that… I’ve got your back.”

Kuwata and Kaede both stared at him in disbelief, Leon’s confusion as evident as his fiery red hair. “... Seriously? You’re not screwing around with me, are you?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t joke around about something as serious as this,” Kaito steadfastly answered. “As long as I know you’re still fighting for something you care about, I can deal with it. That’s the part that matters.”

That… was unexpected. Kaede wasn’t sure what caused the astronaut’s sudden change in gears -his own legendary stubbornness always seemed to shoot through the roof when he found someone as unwilling to bend as he was- but that didn’t dissuade her own look of surprise from slowly shifting into a small smile. It was sometimes easy to lose track of how good a guy Kaito was amidst his bullish attitude and considerable temper, but when it shined through, it was as inspiring as a sunrise to witness.

Leon was uncharacterisitcally silent, watching Kaito for several moments as he started to half-grimace and curled his arms around himself. She was sure he meant for it to look cool and confident, but it was impossible not to think he looked rather pitiable, all but hugging himself for support. “... Why are you so focused on helping me, man? I seriously don’t get it…”

“Hey, I promised I’d have your back earlier, no matter what. No way I’m going back on a promise like that.” Kaito swore, the unwavering commitment in his voice almost making it feel like he was talking directly to her despite his focus being locked on the Ultimate Baseball Star.

The words hung in the air for a short eternity, Leon’s greyish eyes locked firmly on Kaito’s. A beat passed, then another, but at last, a long, groanish sigh passed between his lips. “... Damn it...! Fine!” He conceded, looking away and running a hand through his hair. “It’d be a dick move to just say no when you’re being like that, so whatever. I’m coming along, but this is the last baseball thing I’m doing ever, alright?”

Kaito exploded into a grin. “That’s the spirit! Good on ya, Leon!”

Kuwata’s pout didn’t leave his face, but he didn’t bother fighting him any further as he passed through the gates to the lab. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this crap over with…”

The ex-Ultimate Pianist met Kaito’s gaze with an approving look, his beam growing and her own mirroring it in turn. _ “Good going, Kaito. Just needed a little push in the right direction. Stay like that, and you’ll be right about winning him over sooner than later.” _

Without further ado, the pair followed Leon inside.

The inside of Leon’s lab looked more or less what Kaede assumed it might be like simply from his talent alone. Inside the pen was a handful of buildings of various sizes that made up a fair chunk of the right hand side of the area, but the majority of the lab was dominated by what was unmistakably a baseball diamond. It was considerably smaller than an actual one -even Kaede knew enough about sports to know a full-sized diamond would be almost infinitely bigger than any of the labs thus far- but it was still large enough that she could picture using it for some sort of game.

Turning her attention from that, she took a moment to examine the buildings. She’d never seen a batting cage before, but it would be difficult to imagine what else the large chain link shacks lined up side by side by the entrance could be if not those. There were five in total, each one equally sized and visibly identical to one another right down to the inactive pitching machines standing guard at the back of each. More of interest were two buildings standing opposite of each other a fair ways away from the cages, one of them rectangular and partially hollowed out in the front to make room for twin sets of bleachers that stood on either side of a plain green door. Opposite of it was a hexagonal building that was almost completely non-descript in design except for the graffiti littering almost every inch of its surface.

Kaede looked over to Leon, who seemed to be trying very hard to ignore the batting cages and instead glared daggers into the rectangular building. “Hey, Leon? Do you know what these buildings are? I’m not really familiar with baseball…”

He glanced over to her, lips quirking down in a pout. “The smaller one’s a dugout,” He said plainly, taking a few seconds to realize not everyone knew what that meant. “It’s where teams store their equipment and crap and sit around when they’re not on the field.”

She gave a hum of acknowledgement. “Oh, I get it. Kind of like a quick storage area, right? Orchestras tend to have the instruments ready beforehand, but I could see them having something similar,” Kaede compared more for her own understanding than his. Hoping to avoid her habit of rambling about music, though, she refocused the conversation back on him. “It must be pretty neat watching things from one of those, huh?”

Leon let out a derisive scoff. “Like hell. Getting stuck between a buncha sweaty jerks crowding around you when you’re there and running their mouths while you’re out there busting your ass for their win isn’t my idea of ‘neat’.”

“Er… when you put it that way, I guess not…” Akamatsu awkwardly retracted, her smile faltering slightly. Whatever small talk she was hoping to make died rather painfully with that, leaving her at a loss for what to say that wouldn’t annoy him further.

Kaito lived up to his title as a hero as he thankfully saved them from that uncomfortable misstep in the conversation, stepping towards the place with a beam. “Well, it’s just us here, so it’ll be fine! C’mon, let’s see if this place is actually stocked!” He excitedly ordered before strolling towards the dugout. Leon grumbled something under his breath, but followed after the astronaut, the blonde tagging along after him in mild curiosity.

The indoor portion of the dugout was rather small, all things considered. It was essentially a cross between a locker room and a sports aisle, the room consisting of little more than a handful of lockers and benches that were broken up by neatly organized displays of baseball equipment. Wooden and aluminum bats, helmets, uniforms of all sizes, anything and everything someone would need to play baseball was abundantly available to whoever wanted it. From the walls hung banners, pictures, and jerseys of a team Kaede didn’t recognize, though the picture of a certain redhead hanging above one of the uniforms made it clear what its relevance above any other team was.

Despite her disinterest in sports, Kaede’s initial hunch was correct; seeing the variety of equipment and memorabilia strung throughout the room was pretty neat. Kaito definitely seemed to agree, an awed chuckle rumbling from him as he casually picked up one of the wooden bats and weighed it in his hand. “Oh man, look at these! These are professional!” Momota noted with clear glee.

Kaede walked over to join her friend, taking a closer look at the sluggers. The laminated wood and well-polished metal glinted brilliantly in the bright light, almost as if beckoning her over. _ “I wouldn’t know if they were professional or not, but these things definitely look brand new. It’s a shame Leon doesn’t have any interest…” _ She thought to herself, glancing over to the teen in question. Sulking would be too strong a word, but he definitely didn’t look happy to be there, leaning against the wall and glowering in bitter annoyance at everything in the room. Kaito was already going off to examine more of the equipment as he more or less gushed to himself about the various wares, leaving her alone. She glanced over to the astronaut, looking back over to Leon a moment later, and decided the lilac teen could probably handle investigating by himself for a moment. “Hey, Leon?”

Kuwata’s head snapped up, her voice apparently tearing him from his thoughts. “Huh? Oh… uh, hey. What’s up?”

Kaede’s lips quirked up in a small, soft smile. “I just wanted to say thanks for doing this. I know Kaito can be a lot sometimes, and that you’re probably not having a lot of fun right now, but you’re still doing it. I think that’s pretty cool of you.”

Something flashed in Leon’s expression. It couldn’t have lasted more than a moment, but it was incredibly similar to the strange reaction he’d had to her compliment at the ferris wheel, as if he were struggling to respond with anything appropriate. “Er… yeah. Thanks. It’s whatever, y’know?” He awkwardly thanked, his smile just as strained as the one from earlier that day. Rather than the hesitance and suspicion held in that grimace, however, this one was tinged with what almost looked like guilt. He rubbed at his hair yet again, the blonde idly noting that was almost definitely a nervous tick of some sort as he continued. “But yeah. It woulda been pretty dickish to tell him off after that stuff about having my back, so… you’re welcome.”

Kaede’s simper perked up a little at that, but she unfortunately wouldn’t have the chance to try pushing the conversation further. “Kaede! Check it out!” Kaito boisterously called out.

Turning towards him, she found him proudly presenting one of the jerseys, but what immediately caught her attention was the name **‘Momota’** printed along the top. “Huh? But wait, that’s-”

“My name! It’s my size, too!” He exclaimed, grinning wider. “There’s ones for all of us! How cool is that?”

As if to prove the point, Kaito set his uniform down and searched over the others for a moment before holding up another one. Sure enough, in his hands was a slightly smaller uniform proudly emblazoned with ‘**Akamatsu 31** ’. “Oh, wow! That’s really neat!” She agreed mostly genuinely, a nagging thought bothering her slightly. _ “Even if I really don’t want to know how Monokuma got my measurements…” _

If that thought occurred to Kaito, it certainly wasn’t enough to ruin his enthusiasm. “Right? Imagine seeing everyone dressed up in these! We’d look like a hell of a team, wouldn’t we?” He said with a smile. Setting Kaede’s uniform down, he started rubbing at his goatee. “Y’know, this reminds me of an idea I had. If we got everyone to sign up for it…”

Leon’s features contorted into a weariness treading on exasperation. “If this is you trying to get me to pick up a bat again, I swear to god-”

Kaito shook his head. “Hey, I meant what I said earlier. I’m dropping it,” He reassured, Leon’s scowl slightly fading in turn, though he still looked at the other man questioningly. Kaito had no problem elaborating what he had in mind, however. “I mean we could use these for something else! Remember the soccer game, Kaede?”

Kaede blinked, initially unsure what he was talking about and racking her brain for an answer. It came back to her after a moment, the musician tilting her head curiously. “Oh, right. You were serious about that?”

Kaito shrugged a little. “I mean, I was kinda joking, but we could actually do it now! We’ve got somewhere to play, uniforms, so we’re all on equal footing, the balls downstairs… set up a couple goals on the diamond and we’d be good to go!”

“... That… actually does sound pretty fun,” Kaede conceded, a smile coming to her as she pictured it. “I don’t know a lot about soccer, but it can’t be that hard, right?”

“Course not! I’ll show you the ropes,” Momota agreed, turning towards Kuwata. “How about you, man? I get you don’t like baseball, but how about you play soccer with us?”

Leon’s expression shifted again, his lips pulling down in a frown, but a conflicted look in his eyes keeping him from saying no outright. Before he could say anything, Kaede put down an important disclaimer. “Only if you _ want _ to though, okay? This is supposed to be fun. Don’t say yes just to be polite.”

Kaito gave her a confused look, apparently surprised by her thought process accounting for that, but the slightly startled glint in Leon’s eyes made it clear she hit the nail on the head. As the surprise faded, as did his uncertain look, leaving him with a small frown as he put his hands in his pockets. “... Honestly? I’m leaning towards no. Sports bite period,” He declined. His lips thinned as he looked away. “But… I _ might _ wanna try it just a bit. _ Maybe _. So… I’ll sleep on it. Cool?”

Momota’s grin could have litten up a moonless night. “Awesome! This’ll be worth it, trust me!” He flashed a thumbs up as enthusiastically as if Leon had agreed outright.

Kaede’s response was more reserved, though just as genuine. “Great! Whatever you decide is fine, but we can figure things out tomorrow. Until then, we should wrap up.”

The redhead nodded in assent. “Right. You two done in here?” He checked. At their nods, he pulled himself off the wall and angled himself towards the door. “Then let’s hurry up and check out that last building.”

Having seen everything they needed to in the dugout, Kaede and Kaito followed him out and proceeded towards the opposite building. It was rather out of place compared to the function-focused dugout and batting cages with its elaborate spray paint designs covering almost every inch of the otherwise uninteresting building. There was no indication of what its purpose was, Kaede letting out a curious hum as she examined the building. “Hmm. This doesn’t look like anything to do with baseball. Do you know what it is, Leon?”

Leon shrugged once again. “Not a clue. Maybe that means it won’t blow…” He muttered the latter half before walking through the door, Kaede following close behind.

Kaede didn’t know what to expect, but what they found inside was possibly the furthest thing from anything she could guess. Black sound cushions lined the sharp and angular walls in sharp contrast to the glossy wooden floors that glinted in the soft, greyish light that seemed to put a smokey haze over everything within. The effect was worth it for the mystique it gave to the stage that took up nearly all of the center of the room adorned with numerous instruments proudly on display. Electric guitars, bass, a large drum set, and a microphone in front of the pack stood patiently waiting for a band to take them up, smoke machines and intimidatingly large speakers prepared to give whatever performance eventually arrived a dramatic edge.

Leon was frozen in place, a soft gasp escaping the boy as he stared wide-eyed at the sight before him. Kaede wasn’t too dissimilar, marveling at the practically perfect music studio she suddenly found herself in. Even if classical was decidedly far removed from punk, she’d studied enough about music to recognize a recording room when she saw one. “Woah…” She whispered out in total awe.

“Well, look at this! There’s instruments set up and everything! Isn’t this cool?” Kaito mused, looking around with a sort of casual intrigue that showed he really didn’t know just how impressive it actually was.

“Cool?” Leon parotted, a laugh climbing up his throat and tumbling forward as he grinned ear to ear. “More like totally friggin’ _ awesome _! Fuck yeah, man!” Kuwata shouted in absolute delight, the redhead looking like he could jump for joy at what he was seeing. Before either of them could get a word in, he raced off to the stage, practically flying up the small stairway to them and gunning it for one of the guitars with reckless abandon. Within the blink of an eye, he’d already picked up one of the instruments and excitedly looked over it like a kid on Christmas morning. “I can’t believe it! I was lookin’ at buying one of these, but they’re like thousands of dollars! And now I’m holding one!”

Kaede felt her heart warm at the sight. For the first time since meeting him, Leon seemed genuinely happy. “This is great! You really look in your element here!”

Kuwata was so pleased that he didn’t even seem to care that she’d been the one to say it. “Hell yeah I am! This is, like, everything I dreamed of! How could I not be?” He agreed as he waved to the room around him.

Indeed, if the talent labs were truly supposed to reflect their owners, the music room here certainly succeeded where the rest of his lab had failed. A quick glance around revealed a few shelves of CDs and some other stored instruments stored along the bottoms of the walls in the room somewhat similar to the collection in her own lab presumably filled with the ex-baseball player’s taste in music. There were some posters of bands Kaede either didn’t recognize or was only tangentially aware of, but more of interest was one brandishing the same skull design Leon had on his shirt, apparently confirming it to be his non-existent band’s logo if his name in the corner was any indication.

The sharp cry of an electric guitar snapped Kaede’s attention back to the stage to find Leon giving the instrument an experimental strum, grinning like a madman at the sound. “Haha! Listen to that! It’s not even hooked up an amp yet! This friggin’ rules!”

Kaede’s smile managed to recover from the pained grimace at the unexpected noise as Kaito joined in his celebrations. “Told ya it’d be worth it to check this place out! We can get a real band going with all this!” He boisterously declared. 

Leon glowered a little at him for basically saying ‘I told you so’, but recovered quickly enough, grinning as he glanced back down at the guitar in his hands. “If you can play, then hell yeah! I’d let you in!”

Kaede looked at Kaito curiously. “Do you know any instruments? You mentioned wanting to learn some back at the academy, but not knowing any already…”

Kaito’s bravado faltered a little. “Er… well, it can’t be that hard to learn one! After all, the impossible is possible, and that’s nowhere near impossible!”

The girl who had literally devoted her entire life to learning one instrument stared at him in veiled amusement. _ “The ambition’s admirable, at least…” _ She thought to herself with a smirk. “Well, the offer to help is still on the table. I might not be able to teach you piano anymore, but I still know a thing or two about music.”

“That’s my sidekick! I might just take you up on that!” Momota praised.

“Hey, hang on a second. You said you’d play bass for a _ year _ if you lost the bet without even knowing how to play?” Leon demanded.

Kaito waved the comment off. “I woulda learned! It’d be pretty hard not to know how after a year of practicing it!”

Kuwata’s flat glare screamed ‘you are a dumbass’, and he probably would have said as much himself if Kaede didn’t cut in. “Er… anyways, I’m really happy for you, Leon! It’s great that you’ve got somewhere to try out your passions like this.”

He thankfully seemed inclined to roll with the change in topic, letting the astronaut’s idiocy go unacknowledged in favor of replying to her. “Heh, yeah, it’s pretty sweet,” He mused with a smile. It faded after a moment, a look of consideration taking its place. “... Actually… not that I’m complaining or anything, but why is this place here? I mean, I’m pretty rad with a guitar, but it’s not my official talent or anything like that…”

The observation stuck out to Kaede, the blonde curiously glancing over her surroundings once again. “Huh… no that you mention it, it is kind of strange. Nobody else’s lab had a secondary talent thing like this.”

Kaito scratched at the back of his head. “Well, it’s not exactly the same, but Ryoma’s lab was half tennis court and half prison. Maybe it just depends on how important it is to that person?”

The maestro thought that over for a moment. It sounded a little too generous on Monokuma’s part to do Kuwata a favor like that… but, on the other hand, there wasn’t anything dangerous in the room that threw up warning flags like Peko’s dojo, and more or less everyone but her and the swordswoman loved their talent labs for good reason. She had no reason to be concerned about this room, so why rain on Leon’s parade? “Hmm. Well, since you’re serious about music, I guess this place is to help develop that part of your talent, Leon!”

The answer was apparently good enough for him as the wannabe rocker’s earlier delight returned to his face. “Then you can bet I’m gonna do that! Friggin’ finally, something goes my way!”

Leon gave the guitar another set of strums in celebration, only a touch less harsh on Kaede’s ears now that she expected it. Her approving smile stayed despite that small discomfort, though, her happiness for the often dour teen winning out. “I’m guessing you’ll be staying here for a while, then?”

“That’s the plan! I mean, this is the best thing on this stupid boat, so might as well,” Kuwata confirmed, glancing over to Momota. “You staying too, man?”

Kaito put a hand on his hip. “Sure! Nothing’s better than seeing a man chasing his passion! How about you, Kaede?”

Kaede gave a hum of thought, crossing her arms. “I don’t really have anything else going on, so… sure!” She agreed with a smile. A concerning thought occurred to her after a moment, however, making her cast her gaze towards Leon to gauge his reaction. 

It was hard to read for certain, a tinge of uncertainty in his brow but his features otherwise pressed into a neutral expression. He glanced between her and Kaito, studying the two of them without the latter’s notice for a few moments. After a period of deliberation, he seemed to let out a breath before a slightly strained smile bloomed across his lips. “Alright! If we’re gonna be here, it’s a good chance to get some thoughts on my music! Let me show you guys what I’ve got!”

Kaede stifled a blink of surprise. It was clear he was phoning it in a little, as he often did around her when he wasn’t out-and-out distrusting… yet, there was a genuineness to it that had been missing previously. Even if he wasn’t exactly comfortable with her, it was easier and easier to see signs of the cocky, passionate man she’d met at the stage that felt like it was in another lifetime despite happening just a few days prior. Her smile grew with a blossoming sense of accomplishment and contentment as Leon rattled off some pre-show jargon to build up his performance.

Maybe the idea of everyone growing to trust her again wasn’t just a comforting lie after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right; everyone who thought Leon's lab was gonna be in Felony Funland, you nailed it. Funny Numbers Man was always planned to have his lab revealed, but shoving it into the last chapter killed the pacing, so we reworked it to happen here. This one's for you, Harmful!;D
> 
> Also, Sakura FTE, because Sakura's cool and deserves some friendship from our dear pianist. A fair bit of set up, we know, but we're sure you'll love what we're doing with all this!
> 
> Closing note; congratulations to all winners of the Blackened Skies Fanworks competition! If you haven't already, be sure to check the Discord and the collection here on Archive of Our Own to see all the entries! https://discord.gg/bc86GSE
> 
> -MrCynical


	23. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede learns a truth she'd rather she didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this was a bit of a hard one to get out on time, but we managed it! However, we feel it's important to say right now we can't promise the next chapter will come out in exactly two weeks like it has been the last few updates. Both of us started full-load semesters recently and we still have to write out the prompts for the contest winners, so we apologize, but the current pace might not be sustainable. We'll definitely do what we can, but above all else, we'd rather this story be great and take a while than maintain a schedule and have standards slip as a result. Thank you for your understanding.
> 
> With that said, hope you enjoy! :D
> 
> -MrCynical

As it turned out, Leon actually wasn’t half bad of a musician. He certainly wasn’t amazing at it -even with her unfamiliarity of the genre, she could tell he missed or dropped notes more than a few times- but his passion couldn’t be clearer in how he played. For every partial grimace he’d get when he realized he screwed up a chord, he’d be grinning and jamming out for at least twice as many, truly looking the part of the rockstar he bragged about becoming. She couldn’t comment much on the songs themselves beyond enjoying them well enough, her mind subconsciously focused on trying to map out the notes and sequences as he went, but she felt confident in saying she had a pretty good time with Leon and Kaito even if her ears were ringing a little more than she’d like by the end.

They stayed there for a few hours before Kuwata wrapped up to a two-person standing ovation, smiling broadly more or less the entire walk back to the dorms. The three parted ways once there, Kaede returning to her room in much higher spirits than she had earlier that day. It was only a little past four, so she still had a fair bit of free time left before dinner… yet, sitting on the couch in her room, she found herself struggling to fight off yawns more and more with each passing minute. Her eyelids started drooping soon after, the chair suddenly feeling especially comfortable as she subconsciously started angling herself to lie down on it and her efforts to resist the yawns became increasingly feeble. She didn’t particularly  _ want _ to go to sleep… but, she couldn’t deny that the traces of it pulling at her mind felt rather nice. Between two consecutive nights of poor sleep and an emotional roller coaster of a day, the chance to catch some proper rest soon proved too tempting to ignore. 

_ “Just a quick nap...” _ She eventually conceded to herself, letting her eyes fully close with a hum. In a matter of minutes, the world faded away, leaving Kaede adrift into the realm of unconsciousness.

***

_ Bingbing! Bingbing! _

Kaede’s eyes slowly flickered open as she roused from sleep, letting out a small groan of disappointment. For once, she’d been lucky enough to have a comfortably numb, dreamless sleep, the fuzzy blanket of nothingness abruptly torn off of her yet leaving the feeling slightly lingering like a taunting phantom. It was more tempting than she’d care to admit to simply ignore whoever was at the door and chase those fleeting traces of sleep… but, that would simply cause worry to whoever was there and just generally be rude, so she forced herself to her feet with a small sigh.

“Coming! Just a second!” She called out, taking a brief second to check her reflection in the screen of the monopod to make sure she didn’t look like too much of a mess before moving to the door. She opened the door to the sight of a buttoned up suit jacket and tie, blinking in confusion for a second before craning her neck up to the smiling face of Gonta Gokuhara. “Oh! Hi, Gonta! What’s up?”

“Hi Kaede! Gonta hope he not interrupting anything. Gonta want to gather friends for dinner if they okay to come!” Gokuhara happily explained. 

Kaede smiled up at the gentle giant, waving off the concern. “Oh, it’s fine. I was just taking a nap. I- huh? Is something wrong?” She asked, her casualness swapping to concern at Gonta’s aghast expression.

“Gonta sorry! Is impolite to wake sleeping people, especially ladies!” He quickly apologized, looking ashamed of his supposed slip in decorum. It was almost comical how seriously he was taking it, but the legitimacy of his embarrassment instantly snubbed any potential humor Kaede could have found in it.

“It’s alright! I was only planning on napping until dinner anyway, so you’re actually doing me a favor here. Thanks.” She reassured with a smile.

Gokuhara’s distress faded at that, a somewhat sheepish relief taking its place instead. “Really…? In that case, Gonta glad to help!” He said proudly, readjusting his tie as if it were a badge of honor. After a moment, his posture became a little more stiff, robotically putting one arm behind his back as if he’d been practicing it for quite some time. “Ah, right. Gonta already gather other friends, so Gonta going to dining hall right after this. If she okay with it, would Kaede like to join Gonta for dinner?”

Kaede was mildly surprised by the invitation if she were being honest. It was definitely in character for a gentleman, but amicable as they were, she and the Ultimate Entomologist weren’t particularly close. Thinking about it, she was a little ashamed to think Gonta was probably the person returning from her game that she knew the least about. For him to suddenly take an interest in her… from anyone else, she likely would have found it rather suspicious, yet his painfully honest nature made it feel flattering instead. “I would love to, Gonta. Thank you.”

The delight that sparkled in his bespectacled red eyes was as brilliant as moonlight over the water. “Ah! Wonderful! If Kaede ready, then,” He offered his arm to her expectantly. “Your paw- er, hand, please, m’lady.”

Akamatsu couldn’t help but curl her lip up in a slightly sheepish amusement.  _ “He’s being so formal… he’s trying so hard to act like a gentleman that it’s kind of cute. The dedication’s pretty admirable, considering everything…” _ She thought to herself as she accepted his offer and the pair began walking towards the dining hall. With his strength, he could probably have dragged her like a ragdoll if he even slightly outpaced her, but he was thankfully allowing her to set the speed, casually strolling down the hallway. It was simultaneously strange and comforting to be in the hold of someone so strong, a feeling that pushed her to make conversation to dispel her sense of awkwardness despite enjoying it. “Hey, Gonta?”

The man in question looked down at her quizzically. “Hmm? Can Gonta help with something?”

“No, nothing like that. I just realized that we haven’t really talked a lot since we got here. I know things have been… pretty crazy, lately, so I wanted to check up on you,” Kaede explained, carefully dancing around the sore spot of last night’s events. She shook her head to banish the thoughts, turning her focus back to Gokuhara. “So, are you doing okay?”

The man seemed to think it over for a moment. “Gonta doing okay. Very happy to make friends with Gundham and cute hamsters. He very nice, if strange, like Kiyo. In that way, Gonta doing very well,” He said contentedly, smiling at the thoughts of the eccentric teens. It faded away a few moments later in favor of a more solemn look. “Even so, Gonta... sad that he no could protect Hifumi or Celeste. Even if Gonta not know them well, Gonta think of them as friends, and now friends are dead. It make Gonta very sad… but, Gonta not think he blame Gonta for it like used to. It feel like when old wolves from forest family die. Still hurt a lot, but something Gonta no can control, if that make sense.”

Kaede gave him a sympathetic look. “I think that’s for the best. It’s not good for you to carry guilt around when there’s nothing you could have done,” She offered sagely. Gonta nodded initially, but after a moment, his brow furrowed with a frown, looking like he was caught between wanting to say something and a desire to keep quiet at the same time. It took Kaede a moment, but once it clicked, a rueful smirk tugged helplessly at her lips. “... You’re wondering if I’m blaming myself anyway, huh?”

Gonta flinched, confirming her suspicions. “... Gonta not think it polite to ask after last time…” He sidestepped apologetically.

The words hung in the air for a moment, neither one trying to push the topic further. They both knew what the answer was. Gonta might not be the quickest on the uptake, but he was far from stupid, especially when it came to people’s emotions. Lying to him would be pointless. Admitting the truth would just make him feel like he owes them all his protection even more, which wasn’t a stress she wanted to force on him. So, instead, she opted for a compromise. “... I’ll be alright, Gonta. I just need a little time, that’s all.” She reassured, her smile shifting to a more soothing, almost hopeful one. 

The look in his eye was an uncertain one, as if he wasn’t sure if she meant it or not. Honestly, she wasn’t entirely sure either. She certainly couldn’t picture forgiving herself for their deaths anytime soon, but she’d done a lot of things over the past week she could never have imagined doing at any other point in her life. Doubtful, to say the least, but he didn’t need to know that. If he suspected as much, he didn’t admit to it, his features softening into something supportive. “Gonta understand. If it help, Gonta not think it your fault, either.”

Her smile strained with guilt new and old, stifling back a sigh. “Thank you, Gonta,” She said quietly, bringing that topic to a close as quickly and politely as she could. Another momentary silence passed over the two as they drew closer to the double doors, the faint sounds of conversation faintly whispering in her ears. Deciding she didn’t want to end the conversation on a rather dreary note like that, she opted to change the topic to something more lighthearted. “Anyways… you looked like you were having a pretty good time at the petting zoo. I bet it was pretty fun being around animals again, huh?”

Gokuhara beamed brilliantly at that. “Yes! Gonta very happy to make friends with animals! Most of them not kinds of animals Gonta knew in forest, but they are very nice! Gonta never met goats before, so it new experience for Gonta…”

Her redirection proved to be a wonderful success. Gonta merrily chatted about the various critters of the petting zoo and his old life before rejoining civilization as they gathered their plates and loaded them up, the entomologist thankfully being swayed away from the topic of bugs with the gentle reminder that it could make people uncomfortable while they were trying to eat. Kaede was glad to see him in good spirits, enjoying her time with him until she eventually departed to check in with some of the others that welcomed her presence.

Overall, dinner went pretty well. It was a stark contrast from the tense, scattered meal just two nights prior. Somehow, despite losing two of their numbers, it was almost as if the tension between them all had been reset. It wasn’t, of course; Tsumugi’s pointed ignoring of Kaede being the most blatant reminder of the conflicts she’d inadvertently sown, but it was leagues better than what it had been. 

The best example of this strange new sense of unity occurred about halfway through dinner. Kaede was sitting with the unlikely trio of Kiyo, Mondo, and Mikan, the nurse somewhat shyly but happily chatting with them about whatever topic happened to come up. The anthropologist and the biker clearly weren’t overly thrilled with the other’s presence, but at least had the good graces not to put Kaede and Mikan in the middle of their feud, leaving the occasional awkward silence when one got the last word and the other waited for someone else to break the ice again. It was during one of these pauses that Kaede happened to notice something at one of the other tables. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Leon had dragged Kaito off to one of the farther-off tables to leave them as the sole occupants similar to how Peko and Sakura often ate together. Given the fact that the ex-baseball player had basically been attached by the hip to him since that morning, it wasn’t entirely surprising. What made it interesting was how Kuwata seemed to be hushedly discussing something to the astronaut, a somewhat awkward pout on his face as he rubbed at the back of his head. Kaito looked a little surprised, his lavender eyes widening, but delight soon replaced his shock as he beamed and eagerly pumped a fist. Kaede curiously raised an eyebrow at the sight. She could probably listen in if she focused hard enough… but, given her talk with Sakura earlier that day, she wasn’t exactly inclined to turn around and snoop on yet another private conversation.

It turned out she wouldn’t have even needed to spy on them, however, as after one last nod from the redhead, Kaito addressed the dining hall at large. “Hey, everyone listen up a second! There’s something I wanna run by you guys!” He shouted out, abruptly bringing the attention of the entire room on him at once.

“Keheheh… another announcement? This could be intriguing…” Korekiyo hummed under his breath, the words softly hissing out with an odd sense of reserved giddiness.

Kirumi was much more direct as she addressed the astronaut outright. “I believe we’re all listening, Mister Momota. What is it you wish to ask?”

Ever the hero, Kaito basked in the attention, confidently proposing his idea. “So, I know things have been pretty tense lately. We all know what happened. I get it if anyone’s still shaken up about the whole thing, but that’s why it’s important we do something special to bring us all back on the level! We need something all of us can do together, and what’s better for that than some friendly competition?”

_ “Oh, I get it. Leon agreed to the soccer idea, huh? Well, that’s good. Hopefully that meanswe can get everyone else to, too!” _ Akamatsu thought, smiling to herself. If someone as vehemently distrusting and anti-sports as Leon could sign off on the idea, that had to be a good sign, right?

Peko looked at him quizzically. “You say that like you already have something in mind. What are you suggesting?”

“Soccer!” Instantly came Kaito’s enthusiastic reply. That earned more curious looks from around the room, prompting an explanation. “Leon’s lab has plenty of space for us to set up a field, and uniforms for everyone so we don’t have to worry about our outfits getting in the way! We’d have to find a couple nets to make it work, but we’ve got most of what we need already. So, how about it, guys?”

A brief quiet of consideration took hold for a moment, but it was quickly shattered by a sharp, scornful laugh. “HA! You dare to challenge the Dark Overlord of Ice to a game of soccer? Fool! Surely you must not have been paying attention during our battle in the casino, or else you would know how pitifully outmatched you are against me!” Gundham bellowed, cackling as he threw his head back. “But no matter! I shall show you no mercy for your arrogance, Luminary! I, Gundham Tanaka, accept your challenge!”

Kaito pumped a fist at that, throwing his coat back in a dramatic twirl. “Ha! We’ll see about that! I promise I won’t rub it in too hard when I beat you!”

Before their banter could continue any further, a voice of reason stepped in. “Hold on. You haven’t explained much of the specifics yet. We’ll need to at least know when you want to hold this competition if we’re to attend it.” Sakura chided, making the passionate teen’s dramatic pose falter slightly.

“Oh… yeah, my bad. It shouldn’t take more than about an hour, two tops, so after lunch would be good. Probably half-past ten, elevenish at Leon’s lab.” Momota supplied, sounding more or less confident in his guess. 

Ogami hummed in acknowledgement. “I see. I assume it would be seven of us on each team, assuming we all agreed?” She checked, earning a steadfast nod of affirmation from Kaito.

“Um, Gonta not really know how to play. Can Gonta join if he learn soon?” Gokuhara asked a little sheepishly.

Kaito was quick to ease his concerns. “Of course! Trust me, it’s easy to pick up. We’ll show everyone the ropes before we get started.”

Unsurprisingly, it was Peko who asked the most pointed question. “Do you have a way of making sure this can’t be turned into a trap?”

Kaito balked, his jaw dropping. “H-huh? Hey, what do you mean by that?! There’s no way I’d do something like that!”

“I doubt you would,” Peko said without hesitation, her backhanded vote of confidence drawing a confused look from the astronaut before she crossed her arms and continued. “But having most of us in a specific place at a specific time would be a good opportunity to plan something. There will need to be something done to keep anyone from following through on any ideas they have.”

Kaede cringed as tension began to settle over the room like a thin but growing haze. A quick glance around the room showed the others were largely the same, Teruteru and Kirumi in particular looking dismayed by the idea despite the latter’s attempt to hide it. It would likely only get worse if Kaito tried to handle it, pushing the somewhat disputed leader of the group into action. “W-well, first off, nothing like that’s going to happen,” She established, ignoring the flat looks that remark drew in favor of quickly coming up with an actual argument. “And second… there’s actually a pretty easy way to keep an eye on that. If all of us were there, even if some people weren’t playing, it would be pretty easy to tell if someone stepped away. As long as we paid attention, all of us would be in someone’s eyesight during the entire thing, so there wouldn’t be any opportunity to do something.”

“I agree. If Leon’s lab is big enough to play soccer in, it’s probably really open. There wouldn’t be any way to do anything like what happened at the party… I think.” Chiaki supported, nodding with conviction despite her unsure wording.

Peko considered it for a moment, something flickering in those sharp red eyes of hers before she finally reached a conclusion. “... I suppose that’s true,” She conceded with a nod, her features softening slightly. “In that case, I accept. This sounds like it could be... enjoyable.”

Sakura nodded soon after. “I agree. It could be a nice change of pace from my usual routines.”

“I guess it probably wouldn’t be too lame…” Leon said with a noncommittal shrug, as if the entire reason Kaito was bothering to bring it up to everyone wasn’t the fact that he already agreed to it. 

Kaede could understand wanting to keep up an image, probably better than most here, but she couldn’t help but find it as strange and kind of silly as Teruteru’s aversion to his accent.  _ “Whatever helps him feel comfortable with this, I guess…” _

Speaking of the Ultimate Chef, Teruteru seemed to bounce back well enough from his discomfort, as let out a pleased sounding hum promptly following Leon. “Well, I’d certainly never say no to the chance to play with another man’s ba-” He abruptly stopped, frowning in slight disappointment as he sighed and ignored the chance for an innuendo. “... I mean, yes. I’d like that.”

“Yep. I’m in.” Chiaki agreed plainly right after.

Korekiyo felt along the brim of his cap. “I won’t be participating directly, but this will be fascinating to observe. I shall attend as well.”

Tojo bowed her head. “In that case, should it be necessary, I am willing to take on the role of referee so that both teams are balanced.”

As more and more people agreed to join Kaito’s soccer match, Kaede couldn’t help but be a little surprised. She’d certainly been hoping for a response like this, but figured it wouldn’t go as smoothly as this at least. It was certainly welcome at any rate. She voiced her support for it soon after just to make it official, the calls of agreement continuing until there was only one person who hadn’t spoken up.

It was almost becoming a trend how Tsumugi always seemed to be among the last in group decisions like this. The bluenette seemed to be keenly aware of that fact as well from how her lips turned down in a small frown, her greenish-grey eyes slowly shifting between Kaito, Kaede, her plate, and looping from there. It was obvious what was holding her back. Perhaps she would have been excited if anyone else suggested the idea, maybe thrown out some reference that would soundly fly over everyone’s heads, but that wasn’t the case. One of the two people most responsible for her being scrutinized as a suspect for nearly the entire trial brought it up, and thus that damnable awkwardness between them was rearing its head once again.

Kaede wished she could say something to her that could fix this. It’d been less than a day, but she already hated how much of a rift had formed in that short span of time. Of course, she was the only person Tsumugi was less okay with than Kaito right now, so trying to talk to her about it - _ especially _ with everyone else present- was bound to end in disaster even if she actually worked up the nerve to follow through on it, leaving her silently sighing at the no-win scenario she’d inadvertently made for herself. 

If Tsumugi had any similar feelings, she chose to keep them to herself when she finally responded. “Hmm… sports aren’t really my thing… but, it’d plainly be different, at least. Like having a beach episode after a really sad arc. So, I guess it might be fun. Alright.”

Akamatsu stared, not expecting her to actually say yes, but found a ghost of a smile pulling at her lips at the same time a mile-wide grin split across Kaito’s. “Alright! That’s everyone! This is gonna be awesome, guys!” He promised, giving the entire room a thumbs up. He leaned back in his chair contentedly. “If any of you guys need to learn how to play or wanna help set everything up, swing by a little earlier and we can get things rolling. Otherwise, see ya at eleven!”

With that, the final group meeting of the day concluded. Dinner services continued for a little while after in peace before the students began dispersing as usual. Kaito was sure to remind Kaede and Mondo to be ready for training later that night before parting ways, others following suit until she, Teruteru, and Kirumi were the only ones remaining to handle the cleanup. Thirty minutes and a handful of semi-annoying jokes from the pervy cook later, the last of the remaining students returned to their dorms, once again leaving Kaede to her own devices.

She didn’t particularly have anything to do, really; it was fairly close to the nighttime announcement already, which Kaito had mentioned to be their cue to meet up for tonight. Without any pressing tasks at hand, Kaede mostly just paced around her room until Monokuma’s ever-grating voice rang out from the monitor, throwing her monopod in her backpack before walking out the door.

It seemed Kaito was just as quick on the draw as her given that she spotted the astronaut approaching her room already, a grin blooming across his face as he spotted her. “Hey! Kaede! Glad to see the initiative here!”

His ever-infectious show of support made her mirror the smile, giving the astronaut a friendly wave as she started towards him. “Of course! It’ll be good to get back into it after… everything,” She said, the joy in her tone fading slightly at the unfortunate reminder. She quickly shook her head to dispel the thoughts. “I’m guessing we’re picking up Mondo on the way upstairs?”

“Yeah. C’mon; let’s grab him and get started!” Kaito boisterously boomed, making Kaede wince as she hoped the soundproofing of the rooms was enough to at least soften his passionate declaration. Still, she didn’t offer any complaints as she caught up to him and joined his side on the way to the Ultimate Biker’s door.

Naturally, being Kaito, he wasn’t content to simply press the doorbell once when they got there, nor did he intend to stop at two. In fact, Kaede was certain beyond a doubt that Kaito would have pressed it at least one more time before he started yelling and loudly knocking as if that would bring Mondo out faster for any reasons other than pissing him off if she didn’t intervene with a small elbow to the side. “I’m pretty sure he already heard us, Kaito…”

Momota gave her a look that promised rebuttal, but her words were proven true before he could hope to argue with them, the door opening to reveal Mondo. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey man! Ready for training?” Kaito asked enthusiastically, the biker rubbing the back of his neck in response.

“You never really explained what that meant, but yeah.”

Kaede smiled faintly. “It’s pretty much just some basic workout stuff as an excuse to hang out. It’s pretty fun, honestly.”

“C’mon, don’t undersell it like that! It’s about getting stronger in every way you can think of; a true test of passion!” Kaito refuted, pumping a fist dramatically. A cocky smirk tugged at his lips. “Besides, you seemed to be having a pretty tough time for something you’re calling basic.”

Kaede pouted at him with a half-hearted glare, elbowing him again and making the astronaut laugh at her annoyance good naturedly. It distracted the pair enough that they didn’t see the small flicker of hesitance in Mondo’s gaze before he shook it away, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coat. “... Yeah, I’m down for it. You guys lead the way.”

Kaito beamed, proudly announcing that they were officially getting started and took the lead to their usual meetup spot. Kaede and Mondo trailed fairly close behind as Kaito rattled off an explanation of tonight’s game plan with the odd comment from herself or Mondo in between on the way up the stairs.

“... And here we are!” Kaito announced once they arrived at the second deck, casually shrugging the other half of his jacket off and tossing it to the side as usual before getting into position. 

Mondo quirked an eyebrow at that. “Huh? Isn’t that gonna fuck up your coat?”

Momota shrugged a little. “Hasn’t before. ‘Sides, I’ve got spares! An astronaut’s gotta be prepared!”

“Tch… if you say so, dude. I ain’t gonna crease a one of a kind, though.” Mondo replied noncommittally as he took his own coat off and started folding it. The care and ease he did it with showed clear practice with the action and a sense of reverence for the clothing itself, but Kaede would be lying if she said that’s what caught her attention. 

What stood out to her was that this was the first time she’d ever actually seen Mondo without his coat on, giving an unobstructed view of Owada’s muscular form. She’d known he was strong, of course; his bulk alone gave that away at a glance, but it was quite a different matter actually seeing his toned arms and chest in the flesh. It was rather impressive if she were being honest, though she would never-

Mondo’s eyes glanced up to hers, catching her staring red-handed. His lilac eyes widened a touch, the man stiffening under her gaze. “... What? What are ya lookin’ at?” He asked, voice straining slightly towards the end.

An involuntary squeak escaped Kaede, the blonde quickly shaking her head as she tried to pretend she didn’t feel her face start to burn up. “N-nothing! I just-” She quickly racked her brain for anything to escape from the incredibly awkward situation she found herself in, grabbing onto the first thing she could. “D-didn’t think it’d fold so neatly! Because it’s so long, I mean…”

She was even less confident in her excuse than her voice let on.  _ “Did you seriously just say that?! Idiot!” _

By the mercy of whatever deities were watching, Mondo didn’t question the painfully obvious lie, opting to play along with it instead. “Ah… uh, yeah. Has to be flexible; it’d be too hard to ride in it if it were too rigid…” He half-mumbled, setting it off to the side before shaking his head and joining Kaito.

_ “Oh, thank god…” _ Akamatsu mentally sighed out in relief, pointedly looking down at her feet rather than at Mondo even as she followed suit a moment later, setting her backpack down nearby and falling to a pushup stance. She more than likely would have died of embarrassment if he’d said anything else, leaving her counting her blessings that she was getting away more or less unscathed.

Kaito gave her an odd look, shifting it between her and Mondo, but thankfully left it with only a raised eyebrow before he changed the topic. “Er… anyway, let’s get started! A hundred of these and then we move onto situps! Ready, guys?”

Mondo cracked his neck. “Sounds easy enough. Ready whenever you are.”

“Assuming I can still feel my limbs after, sure...” Kaede joked, her mood lifting to one of enjoyment.

Kaito gave a teasing grin. “That just means it’s working! Now, starting in three, two, one… go!”

With that, the night of training began. It went off without anything of incident or note, though Kaede’s joke came a little closer to truth than she’d like by the time she hit fifty pushups. Mondo handled it all with ease, unsurprisingly, but didn’t seem to be quite as into it as Momota or herself. Not that he seemed like he was having a bad time, per se; he made no complaints at any point, but it was clear he could basically take or leave it. 

She had to admit that it was a little disappointing. She wasn’t really sure what she’d been expecting, but she’d hoped it would at least be as fun for Mondo as it was for her. It wasn’t clear what exactly was holding it back for him, but it didn’t feel right to push him on it in case she was wrong. Even if she was right, they’d been on speaking terms for maybe a day and a half, and only doing so honestly since that morning. Pressing him when she could be completely misreading the situation would do far more harm than good, and so, she chose not to. It was made a little less uncomfortable by the idle chatter between them, but it was still difficult to shake the thought from her mind throughout.

Still, the fact that Mondo was there at all was a promising sign by itself. Even with the numerous uncertainties building up since that morning, it was reassuring to have two people by her side for certain. Knowing that let her smiles and laughs be fully in earnest as the three of them grew stronger in the desolate halls.

***

It wasn’t terribly long before they’d finished up. It usually didn’t take more than around an hour to do Kaito’s routine even at a leisurely pace. That was true tonight as well, the trio wrapping up their routine and making their way back to their dorms in relatively high spirits before any of them got too drowsy. When they got back to the first deck, Mondo was the first to depart, given his room was almost immediately next to the stairwell. “Alright; unless you guys have somethin’ else planned, I’m prolly calling it a night here.”

“Nah, that’s it for tonight. Not bad for a first effort! We’re gonna get back to it tomorrow, so get some sleep. See ya in the morning, sidekick!”

Mondo rolled his eyes at the nickname, but if he planned to object, he didn’t get the chance to before Kaede spoke up. “Yep! It was really great having you join, Mondo. Same time tomorrow?” She encouraged, smiling brightly at the pompadoured man. 

It was faint, but Owada’s lip slowly quirked up at her enthusiasm. “Don’t see why not,” He agreed, making Kaede’s smile grow and his own slightly mirror it in turn. He glanced away after a moment, rubbing at his neck. “Alright. G’night, guys.”

Kaede and Kaito gave their goodnights to the man once again as he went to his room and closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone outside of his room. Kaede turned to the astronaut, her beam falling to something softer if no less genuine. “Guess this is where we call it too, huh?”

Kaito clicked his tongue, putting a hand on his hip. “Actually, if you got a minute, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Kaede’s eyebrow twitched curiously. “Huh? Sure. What’s on your mind?”

“Was it just me, or did it seem like he wasn’t really getting into it?”

The musician stared at him for a moment, thinking over how to phrase it before deciding the direct route was probably best. “Honestly? I agree. I don’t think he had a bad time, but I’m not sure it really interested him, either.”

Momota rubbed at his goatee with a hum. “That’s what I thought… well, now that we know that, how do we fix it?”

“I don’t really know if there’s a way to ‘fix’ it, Kaito. It might just be that he doesn’t care about working out,” Kaede crossed her arms, frowning slightly. “I’m definitely glad to have him here, but I invited him to tomorrow’s mostly to see if maybe it grows on him. If he doesn’t seem like he’s having fun soon, though, I’m just going to ask him flat out.”

The lavender didn’t look thrilled with that answer. “Maybe so, but there’s no way we can just give up on it if he says no. There’s gotta be something that could get him into it…” Kaito insisted, though from the look in his eye, it almost looked as if he meant that last remark more for himself. He caught himself before he could fall too deeply into thought, however, giving a small shake of his head and refocusing on Kaede. “I’ll see what I can come up with. In the meantime, though, you’re making good progress! You got a little past fifty pushups  _ and _ didn’t need as long a break this time! Keep it up and maybe you’ll be as good at it as I am!”

Kaede scoffed in amusement. “Oh yeah? Well, I bet it won’t be long before I can give Gonta a run for his money! Let’s see how tough you are then!” She challenged jokingly. 

Something flashed across Kaito’s face at that, his eyes lighting up as his jaw dropped slightly. “Run for his money, huh…? I think you just gave me an idea!” He happily announced, flashing a thumbs up to his friend. “Nice going, sidekick! I’m gonna go figure some stuff out, but I’m pretty sure I just solved our problem!”

“Uh… what exactly did you have in mind?” Akamatsu questioned cautiously, Kaito’s history of plans involving Mondo not filling her with much confidence.

Kaito clearly wasn’t as concerned with his track record as he waved it off. “Like I said, I gotta figure out some of the specifics, but you’ll see tomorrow. Night, Kaede!” He assured before turning and walking over to his door. 

“Hey, wait! You’re not going to tell me?” She called out after him.

“Not yet. A hero’s gotta have some surprises!” Kaito cheekily replied.

Kaede was caught between wanting to roll her eyes at his gimmick and wanting to call him out on what exactly he was planning.  _ “Of course, knowing him, he’ll be too stubborn to actually say anything until his big reveal’s ready…” _ She mused, equally annoyed and amused by the thought. “Of course you do… just try to play it smart, okay?”

“C’mon, you say that like I ever don’t!”

Kaede didn’t try to hide a snort at that, rolling her eyes despite the small smirk playing at her lips. “Uh huh. Goodnight, Kaito.”

With one last smirk and salute to her, he stepped through the door, the soft  _ thud _ of it closing seeming to reverberate throughout the barren hall for a few moments. Kaede stood there in the silence, almost reluctant to leave the hall, but she eventually brought herself to her door, opening it and stepping inside without a word despite her slight dread for what was bound to follow.

It was pretty late, the clock showing it was half-past eleven when she slipped back into her room. Despite the late hour and lingering soreness from the workout, though, she made no effort to go to bed.  _ “It’s just a bit of excess energy. It’ll go away soon enough, and then I’ll go to bed...” _ She told herself when she noticed she’d spent the last several minutes pacing back and forth across the room.

In truth, she was stalling. Sleep probably wouldn’t come easily between her earlier nap and the nightmare-induced insomnia she’d been having, and even if she did manage it, there was no promise it would be particularly restful anyway, leaving her more or less stuck in her room with nothing to do but wait until she became too tired to put it off any longer. As a result, she’d ended up bouncing around from one idle distraction to another, from examining her record collection (all classical, including a number of her favorite piano pieces, rather mockingly) to thumbing through one of the books on the coffee table and so on.

When she’d inevitably lost interest in those, she arrived at her current task: trying to learn how to play Solitaire. Inspecting Celeste’s pack of cards had revealed a small booklet describing how to play various card games was included with the deck, which she was referring back to occasionally as she set a match up on the table. She’d never played it herself, another instance of her all-encompassing devotion to piano leaving her clueless about certain topics, but it seemed simple enough in theory. Besides, she was bored out of her mind and the Ultimate Gambler had lamented how rarely those cards were used, so she might as well find a use for Ludenberg’s final gift by learning now.

Once it was finally set up, Kaede stared down at the columns of cards in front of her with a considering hum. “Hmm… I can only move a card if it’s one lower than whatever’s next to it, so…” She thought aloud, glancing over the columns to find anything that worked to that end. She spotted what she needed after a moment, letting out a soft ‘ah’ as the moved the card in question to its new place. “And now I flip over this one, and keep going from-”

_ Bingbing! Bingbing! _

The sharp electronic cry of the doorbell cut her off, the ex-pianist looking up from her game curiously. Her initial thought was that it was Kaito dropping by again for one reason or another, but the distinct lack of slamming the button over and over again proved it wasn’t him. She felt her eyebrow raising in curiosity as she made her way over to greet an unexpected visitor for the second time that day. Pushing down the usual ball of uncertainty about who could be waiting behind it, Kaede cracked the door open to find a familiar face waiting for her. “Oh, hey, Chiaki. Is there something you need?”

Nanami smiled up at her faintly. “Hey hey. Could I come inside for a minute? It’s about what we talked about last night…” She added softly, her voice becoming a little more serious with the implications of what she meant.

Kaede blinked, a split second of confusion instantly giving way to a tiredness that went right to her bones.”Chiaki… I…” She started only to give up with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. She  _ really _ didn’t want to have this conversation right now. Or… ever, really. But, she  _ did _ promise to at least talk it over with her… “... Alright…” She reluctantly agreed, opening the door a little wider so her guest could step through.

“Thanks,” Chiaki said as she slipped in, Kaede gently closing and locking the door behind her as she mentally prepared herself for the coming conversation. Nanami looked at her in silence for a few moments, apparently waiting for Kaede to start the conversation until it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. “... Have you thought about what I asked last night, Kaede?”

Akamatsu frowned, crossing her arms on instinct. “Honestly… no, I haven’t. It slipped my mind with everything that happened today,” She admitted, meeting the deceptively clever Ultimate’s eyes. “But there’s nothing that can change the truth, Chiaki. I know for a  _ fact _ that I’m the one that killed Rantaro.”

The disappointment in Chiaki’s eyes was unmistakable. “... I see...” She quietly said after a long moment of silence.

“I’m sorry. I know you wanted to have faith in me, but I can’t believe a lie like that, or let you get your hopes up. I’m just not the person you think I am.” Kaede apologized, her eyes trailing down to the floor shamefully.

The reserved girl didn’t answer at first, her gaze searching the leader’s soul for something Kaede knew she wouldn’t find. She hated to dash Nanami’s hopes like this, but it had to be done. Letting her cling to this twisted joke that Akamatsu was somehow innocent was cruel to both of them. The sooner she accepted the reality of Kaede’s guilt, the less it would disappoint her. That hope was the sole silver lining to this heartbreaking exercise in belief perseverance.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t one Chiaki was willing to grant easily. “... If it’s alright, I’d at least like to know why you’re so sure about this. Please. I just… don’t understand why you’re so against this.”

Kaede tried to stifle an exasperated groan. She  _ promised _ she’d give an explanation. She had no room to get upset about this when she’d already agreed before, even if she couldn’t help but feel sick of Chiaki’s stubborn defense of her. She reminded herself of that again and again as she took a deep breath and slowly shook her head at the smaller girl. “I’m not really sure what you want me to say. It just doesn’t make any sense for anything else to be the case. I set up the trap. I rolled the shot put ball. Rantaro died right after that, and that’s all there is to it. If I didn’t kill Rantaro, everyone would have died when they voted for me, but they didn’t. By the game’s own rules, I have to be the killer, which means that video has to be a fake. Isn’t that easier to believe than some big conspiracy theory  _ Monokuma _ of all people came up with?” She pressed with growing certainty, hoping the clear contradiction between what Chiaki was suggesting and what reality said would be enough to convince her of the obvious.

To her credit, Chiaki didn’t immediately object like she had last time, allowing Kaede’s point a moment to sink in first. “... So… you’re convinced you have to be the killer because it’s the only thing that seems to make sense?” She asked, more so a statement than an actual question. At the blonde’s nod, that familiar calculating look started to leak into the gamer’s eyes. “... Okay. Then, there’s something I want to try. I want to explain why I think you’re wrong about that. If you just want me to drop it, I can… but it would mean a lot to me if you at least heard me out first.”

Kaede’s eyes narrowed. If she were being honest, she didn’t want to hear Chiaki’s reasoning. She’d much rather just forget this entire fiasco in fact. This stupid video had caused her nothing but pain and strife, and every minute Chiaki wasted trying to convince her it was true just made it worse. It was  _ very _ tempting to tell her to knock it off and let it fade away. She had every right to under their promise.

Yet…

“... I can hear you out for a little bit,” Kaede begrudgingly agreed, crossing her arms a little tighter against herself in preparation for what was doubtlessly going to be a draining ordeal. Her expression turned stern as she gave a firm warning. “But if I tell you to stop, that’s it. Not just for tonight, but for good. Alright?”

Chiaki nodded without hesitation, relief clear on her features. “Thank you, Kaede. I promise this will all be worth it,” She reassured. Kaede thinned her lips but didn’t respond otherwise, leaving Chiaki free to begin her explanation. “So, we should start by getting on the same page. Was the trap the video showed exactly the same as the one you set up?”

Akamatsu glanced away shamefully, bowing her head. “Yes.”

Chiaki’s brow furrowed slightly. “On the tape, you set the camera up on the right side of the bookshelf to lure the mastermind over to the trap, right? But… there’s something that doesn’t make sense about that.”

Kaede skeptically raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It might be easier to show you…” Chiaki muttered to herself, pulling out her monopod and starting the tape. Monokuma’s obnoxious voice gleefully grated out from the speakers, Kaede’s jaw tensing in annoyance as it kept going and going.

“Can you just skip to the part you want to show me?” She questioned curtly, the bear’s antics already eating away at her patience.

Nanami gave her a sympathetic look, but shook her head. “Sorry. I tried that, but these things only seem to start and stop. We’re going to have to wait for it,” She explained, earning a small huff from the former pianist. The pair sat around listening to Monokuma’s slanderous exposition in an uncomfortable silence until the first part of Chiaki’s point finally came up, the gamer quickly pausing the video and pointing at the screen. “That’s where you put the camera, right?”

Sure enough, frozen on the screen was the image of her crouching down at the bookcase, setting up what would inevitably bring Rantaro to his death as Shuichi stood painfully oblivious a few feet away on the ladder. A quick glance upward showed the open-faced dictionaries she’d lined up to drop the ball ominous waited overhead. Kaede swallowed thickly, her nails pressing painfully into her palms. “Yes. Like I said, I put it so it would be right under the ramp. When the camera flashed, Rantaro walked over to it and… what’s your point, Chiaki?”

“When you found his body, where was it exactly?” Chiaki pressed, ignoring her question entirely.

“In front of the bookcase.” Came her instant, emotionless reply, still entirely uncertain what the other girl was getting at.

“Could you point to it for me?”

Kaede stared at her, momentarily confused and quickly becoming exasperated with the seemingly pointless questions. “Why does-” She started, but let out another huff, shaking her head. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could put it behind her for good. She pointed where the image of Rantaro’s cold, stiff form forever burned itself into her mind. “There. We found him there. I’m sure of it.”

Chiaki studied where she was pointing for a long moment. “... Isn’t that a little weird, though?”

The musician pursed her lips disapprovingly. “I set up a trap, he walked into it, and he died. What doesn’t add up?”

“Rantaro’s body was there when he died,” Chiaki pointed her finger to the same place as Kaede. After a moment, she moved it up to the path of books. “But that’s not where the shot put ball should have dropped. Look how much space is between where the path ends and where his body is.”

Kaede opened her mouth, already prepared to dismiss what Chiaki was saying… but, as she did as Nanami instructed, she found herself speechless. There was a good meter of distance from where the camera and books lined up on the shelf and where she was positive Rantaro’s body had been, practically miles in terms of how far the shot put would have had to travel to hit its mark. “... What?” She murmured to herself in disbelief.

That couldn’t be the case. Sure, she could tell the trap the video showed was definitely hers -she knew what it looked like better than anyone- but it just didn’t make sense. Her trap killed Rantaro. That was the only explanation. So… how could his body be so far away from it? Kaede stared at the screen wordlessly, her mind frozen in place by the irreconcilable facts before her. Her shock and confusion must have been clear enough in her expression that Chiaki picked up on it, as she gently tried to coax a response from the blonde. “You see it too. There’s no way he should have been hit by your trap. Do you understand, Kaede?”

“... That can’t be possible,” Kaede whispered, shaking her head violently to dispel the fog of confusion. Her voice became firmer and louder as her bitter determination grew and she dug in her heels. “It’s not true. It can’t be.”

The pink-haired girl stared at her, empathy and concern mixing with caution in her gaze. “Kaede… I-”

“It’s  _ wrong _ ,” Akamatsu harshly denied, glaring down at the tablet. “And I’m going to prove it to you.”

Before Chiaki could say anything, Kaede forcefully tapped the play button, watching on in cold anger. There had to be something here that proved it was a lie. When she noticed it, she’d pull that loose end until this whole tapestry of lies came undone and she could be rid of this insulting false hope. Whatever that was had to show up when her ball supposedly missed, so that was what she kept her eyes open for.

At last, Monokuma’s ramblings finally paused long enough to focus on the ball making its way down the ramp. She felt bile rising in her throat as it drew closer and closer to the ledge, but she forced herself to keep watching in its entirety this time. She was determined to find  _ some _ clue, and that meant going over each second of it with a fine-toothed comb. When the ball finally came to the end of the ramp, she steeled herself, leaning in closer.  _ “This has to be it. Something here won’t line up, and that’ll prove it’s a lie!” _

And so she watched it roll off the bookcase and ‘harmlessly’ to the ground, her eyes practically glued to Rantaro’s shadow. Something would be wrong, some minor detail, she just  _ knew _ it. She was certain of that even as the sickening  ** _clunk_ ** of metal colliding against bone rang out, watching Rantaro fall limply to the ground and she saw…

… Exactly what she had when they found his body.

Kaede stared uncomprehendingly at the screen.  _ “That… that can’t be. There… there isn’t anything that’s different...!” _ She realized with confusion and horror. Kaede racked her mind for anything from the scene that could have proven it wrong, any slight hint that she could have simply misremembered where his body lied or anything of the like, but everything she remembered just made it more baffling. Rantaro’s body definitely had to be where she was pointing, because the horrific blood splatter on the bookshelf had to be in front of him. In order for that to be the case, he would have to be away from the point Chiaki had clearly pointed out the ball would have dropped from, which meant…

“Kaede…?” Chiaki addressed worriedly, concern replacing the scanning look in her eyes.

“... Play it again.”

Nanami blinked, brow furrowing. “... Huh?”

“Play it again,” Kaede repeated, voice monotone. The Ultimate Gamer continued to look at her in confusion, prompting her to elaborate. “Please. I… I need to see it again. I need to know if there’s something I missed.  _ Anything _ . Please...”

There  _ had _ to be something. She  _ knew _ she killed Rantaro, felt it to her very bones. Even if everything Chiaki was pointing out made sense, what it built up to just… didn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to accept it. Even if she hadn’t found any evidence to the contrary yet, she knew it couldn’t be true, and she’d scour the tape as many times as she needed to find that proof.

And so, that was what she planned to do. At Kaede’s almost begging request, Chiaki reluctantly started the video again, silently studying Kaede while she scanned every last bit for anything to disqualify it. She forced herself to ignore the tightening knot in her stomach when the video concluded once again without anything to work off of and shakily asked to see it one last time in the vain hope of turning out to be right after all.

In the end, that hope left her with nothing.

“I… I don’t understand…” Kaede whispered, her voice quiet and trembling as she was forced to confront the realization she’d fought so desperately to deny. She couldn’t identify all that she was feeling, the swirling storm of emotion in her chest shrouding everything in a haze of sickening unease, but shock was chief among them. “This… doesn’t make any sense…”

“Easy. It’s a lot to take in. Just take it slowly, okay?” Chiaki soothed, somewhat shyly reaching out and putting a hand on Kaede’s arm.

Kaede slowly shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Shuichi proved I did it. There wasn’t any doubt about it…” She murmured, more speaking to herself than the other girl as she tried to understand the impossible truth presented to her. “A-and… they all voted for me. If I didn’t kill him, why didn’t all of us die?”

Chiaki’s lips fell to a frown, unreadable thoughts dancing behind those soft pink eyes. “... What if that wasn’t what the real culprit wanted?”

Kaede’s heart seized. “... What do you mean?” She asked, already knowing the answer but wishing more than anything that it was wrong. It didn’t lessen the blow of the following words in the least.

“What if the culprit  **wanted the game to continue** ?”

There it was; the theory she herself had thought of the night prior and steadfastly denied. “... You think the  **mastermind** did it.”

“I don’t know for sure, but… I think it makes too much sense not to think about,” Chiaki lightly amended. Her expression was conflicted, concern and sympathy mixing with a look of deep thought and concentration. “If the mastermind was the one that killed Rantaro, using your trap to frame you would let the game go on without seeming to break the rules. Even though you were innocent, if no one but the mastermind knew, it looks like the trial went just like Monokuma said it would.”

Kaede fell deathly silent. That… made sense. Perfect sense. It would account for every inconsistency she could think of. Logically, from the ball failing to hit Rantaro to the mystery killer in the video to the class’ survival despite an apparent spotless being voted guilty, the mastermind being the true killer filled every crack the video left behind, a perfect explanation in every form. It was the key to proving an innocence she thought was long since lost forever...

Yet, at the same time, it didn’t make any sense at all. Confident in his title or not, Shuichi was the Ultimate Detective. He was without a doubt the smartest person she’d ever met, and he was as convinced as she was that she was the culprit. He wasn’t even the only one; from how the Ultimate Supreme Leader had been acting during the trial, it was obvious he’d figured her out at least as quickly as Shuichi had. Shuichi, Kokichi, Kirumi, Korekiyo, Ryoma, Miu… all of them were incredibly smart, and yet, all of them had supposedly been duped into believing something Chiaki had proven false in mere minutes. How was that possible? How could all of them have been fooled? No matter how clever the mastermind was, they couldn’t change the laws of physics. How could everyone, herself included, be tricked by them if this was the truth of what actually happen-

In an instant, it was as if a switch were flipped. It didn’t make sense. There was no way all of them could be misled by something like that… if it was _actually_ _what_ _happened_.

“... You look like you thought of something, Kaede…” Chiaki said probingly, her curious eyes locking with Kaede’s wincing ones.

“... Chiaki… what if this is the fake tape after all?” Akamatsu asked, a slight quiver of apprehension in her voice. Nanami’s features fell, disappointment clear in her expression despite her attempt to subdue it, but Kaede shook her head before the gamer could say anything to argue. “I’m not just saying that because it says I’m innocent. It’s just… my plan didn’t work even in the way we thought it did… but no one noticed? The mastermind somehow knew what I was going to do and planned  _ around _ it? Isn’t that a little weird to you?” She argued, her voice becoming both more firm and uncomfortable as she went on. “Yes, it’s exactly what I remember happening, but…”

The video showed her trap exactly as she remembered setting it up down to the last detail. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the footage of that was accurate. Likewise, Chiaki was inarguably correct about how the shot put ball would have missed Rantaro given where it was aimed versus where he was standing. The mastermind striking him from behind would explain why his body was so far away from the trap that supposedly killed him. Yet, for all that made sense about the video, that one detail couldn’t be accounted for. There was no way to reconcile both the supposed true nature of Rantaro’s death and the illogical oversight of her trap going unnoticed by everyone there, or the other conveniences it relied upon for that matter. The only explanation for it all, as much as it  _ horrified _ her to think about…

“... What if I’m remembering a lie?”

Chiaki’s disappointment turned to surprise before slowly furrowing into confusion, the girl tilting her head in confusion. “I… don’t understand.”

Kaede’s nerves felt fraught, yet there was an odd sort of certainty lingering beneath the tremor in her voice. “When Monokuma announced the rule about the motives, he said that whoever should have remembered one of the tapes being different had their memories messed with so they wouldn’t realize it… but he never said that excluded  **the culprit themselves** ,” She pointed out, a cold dread settling over her very soul. “There’s  _ so _ much about it that doesn’t make sense even though I’m positive it’s what happened. It’s what I remember… but you already proved there’s no way it could have happened. Do you see what I’m getting at, Chiaki? What if the reason my murder and the tape line up so much is because I **’m remembering the fake story he came up with** ?”

Nanami stared at her for a long moment, her eyebrows knitting in thought. “... I… can’t really say it’s impossible. It would explain why some things don’t seem to add up well… but…” She trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to argue with that line of thought. In truth, there was very little she could actually do to counter it. The theory was largely built on circumstantial evidence and conjecture, but that was just as true for Nanami’s mastermind theory. The slight grimace on Chiaki’s face proved she must have concluded the same thing. After a few more moments, she changed gears, trying a different line of thought to convince the ex-pianist. “... That has its own problem, I think. If that’s true, then it means-”

“We have no idea who I actually killed or why. I… I already know,” Kaede finished with a shaky breath, crossing her arms tightly. Chiaki couldn’t appreciate just how  _ terrifying _ of a thought that was. Knowing -or, thinking she’d known- she killed Rantaro was already damning enough, but the sudden possibility that everything she thought she knew about that was a lie… her mouth hurt from how dry it was. A part of her realized this must be how Sakura often felt, but that idle musing meant little in the face of her newfound crisis. “And if that’s true, there’s no way to tell which of my memories we can trust.”

_ “Or if you can trust me at all.” _

Despite those words only existing within her own mind, Chiaki’s expression stiffened as if Kaede had said them aloud, a startlingly serious look on her face. “That’s not it. Just because we can’t prove it’s wrong outright doesn’t mean it’s true.” Nanami said firmly, her pink eyes brimming with conviction.

Akamatsu’s expression darkened, a miserable fear curling around her heart. “But it doesn’t mean it’s wrong, either.”

Nanami didn’t relent. Her disapproving gaze met Kaede’s unwaveringly, the sort of scolding frustration that can only be born of care glimmering within them. At long last, her stern look softened just slightly, her voice taking on a gentle reassurance to it. “... I know it’s a lot, Kaede. Having all that guilt isn’t easy, and I understand that it’s even harder to think about it not being your fault. But… I really need you to at least consider what I’m saying. We don’t have proof either way… but we definitely know something’s different about your case compared to anyone else. If you just assume it’s fake, we can never know for sure. So,” Chiaki smiled faintly, small and lacking mirth, but glowing with the genuine belief held within it. “We have to push towards the truth together, no matter what. I promise I’ll be with you the whole way. I just need you to be willing to walk with me, too. Okay?”

Kaede remained silent, wordlessly staring at Chiaki as she debated the choice in front of her. The paths were binary: take the terrifying plunge into the unknown with Chiaki, risking finding a damning truth no matter which possibility turned out to be the correct one, or resign herself to the equally distressing but relative safety of willful ignorance, staying in the midst of uncertainty she’s familiar with and can pretend to ignore. She wanted nothing more than to refuse both of them, to go back to before Chiaki had ever planted this doubt in her head and close the door on this mystery before it even opened, but it was too late for that. Her intuition had once again cursed her with an impossible choice, just as it had when she learned of the mastermind -assuming that was even  _ real _ \- and now she had to pick her poison.

If she agreed, there was an undeniable chance she’d walk away finding out she’d done something even more horrible than she was aware of if the video was indeed fake. Monokuma would have chosen hers for a reason, and knowing the sadistic monster of a stuffed animal, it would be to revel in her despair when she found out. Equally as horrifying was the possibility that it  _ wasn’t _ fake, and not only had she died over a lie, but that the person that killed Rantaro had successfully continued manipulating her friends into engaging in the killing game. That the very same person might even be  _ here _ , trying to do the same thing all over again. The very thought of that made her sick to her stomach and turned her heart to lead. Neither of those outcomes could bring her anything but suffering, something she had already endured far too much of for one lifetime. It was so tempting to turn away and feign ignorance, pretend as if the lie Nanami tried so hard to expose was the truth…

… but she couldn’t do that, could she?

_ “The people who are willing to find the truth are the ones who can decide their fate. If you never know the lies from the truth, then you can't choose a path… that’s what I said, isn’t it? That’s what I believed. It’s what I  _ ** _have_ ** _ to believe. If I can’t bring myself to face the truth now, how can I ever hope to find a path? The only way forward is facing this head on… so…” _

“... To be honest, I really don’t know about this. It’s all so much, and it’s happening so quickly… I don’t know what to do. I… I’m scared to find the truth,” Kaede quietly admitted, reluctant to show such vulnerability in front of someone else but unable to deny it any longer. She hesitated for a moment, dangling on the precipice of choice, before she let out a long, shuddering breath and took the step forward. “But I know I can’t turn away from it. No matter how scared I am, I won’t back down. If you’re by my side on this, I know I can face this truth to the end. So… I promise I’ll be there for you, too.”

The relief in Chiaki’s gaze was immense, her weak smile strengthening into something warm and reassuring. “I’m really glad to hear that. You made the right choice.”

Kaede nodded, her lips quirking up in a frail ghost of a simper despite the heavy unease still weighing on her heart. “All this is too much for someone to handle alone. Relying on a friend is just what makes sense, right?” She said, half as an agreement and half to settle her still-rattled nerves.

“Right,” Came the gamer’s steadfast reply. A quiet followed soon after, neither tense nor comfortable, simply a silence born of a lack of anything to say. After a few moments, Chiaki’s expression fell to something more thoughtful, tugging on her backpack straps. “... So… what do you think we should do?”

Akamatsu grimaced slightly, shifting her folded arms uncomfortably. “W-well… I don’t know. Like you said, this is… a lot, to say the least,” She responded sheepishly. She forced herself to think of something more helpful than that, thinning her lips as she tried to think it through logically. “The smart thing would be to investigate. I don’t know for sure if there’d be any clues we could find here, but Monokuma said Felony Funland has the truths behind our games. If… if my memories are fake, or if someone else really killed Rantaro, then maybe he left clues somewhere in there.”

Chiaki hummed in assent. “I think that’s a good start. If we find anything, we should probably let each other know as soon as we can. Getting to the bottom of this… might be important for everyone here.”

There was something about the way she phrased that remark that felt strange to Kaede… but, the faint pulse of an oncoming headache chased away any desire to confront her on it right now. She nodded once again, trying to hide a wince. “Yeah… but, there isn’t a lot we can do right now. It’s pretty late to go looking around for anything, and... I have a  _ lot _ to think about. It’d probably be best to hold off until tomorrow for anything.”

Mercifully, whether she noticed Kaede’s pain or not, Chiaki took the hint. “Right. That’s probably for the best,” Nanami agreed with a nod. “I’ll take a look around tomorrow after soccer’s wrapped up. If I find anything, I’ll be sure to let you know… would meeting up here around the same time tomorrow be alright with you?

“Yeah, that should be fine. We can figure out a different place later if we have to, but this works for now.” Kaede confirmed.

“Okay. Then… I guess that’s it, for now. I’ll see tomorrow morning,” Chiaki agreed, approaching the door as Kaede opened it for her to leave. She stopped just before the threshold, however, pausing to look at the blonde one last time. “... Kaede?”

“Yeah?” Akamatsu asked, hiding her weariness behind a forced tone of optimism.

Chiaki’s smile perked up at the corners. “I believe in you, so you should really believe in yourself, too… I think.”

Kaede blinked, uncertain and conflicting emotions rising in her at the eerily familiar words. “... Goodnight, Chiaki,” She replied neutrally, intending to leave it at that, but a sense of hesitation stopped her from doing so. “... And… thanks.”

“You’re welcome. G’night, Kaede...” Nanami bid farewell, a small yawn almost interrupting her as she took her leave. Kaede saw her off with a small wave, gently closing the door behind the other girl and locking it. After a few seconds, a long, harrowing sigh slipped out from the very depths of her soul, the once-Ultimate Pianist weakly resting her forehead against the door as her strength seemed to vanish from her in an instant.

This… was horrifying. It felt numb, at this point; a vague and abstract sense that something was very,  _ very _ wrong, yet held back by some strange barrier of consciousness. Shock, a part of her idly realized, but that provided no comfort knowing that protective seal would fade away sooner or later and leave her with the full breadth of this discovery’s nightmarish implications.

Everything she thought she knew about her murder was a lie. Regardless of which theory was correct, her recollection of Rantaro Amami’s death was objectively false. Either it was completely fabricated and thus potentially  _ anything _ she remembered could be fiction, or, despite Shuichi’s desperate apologies to the contrary, the mastermind was  _ real _ , and played her and everyone else for fools to continue their sadistic game. That same person was potentially on this ship right now, planning to do it all over again…

Either outcome was terrifying to consider, yet one would inevitably turn out to be the truth, and she had no idea how to cope with that knowledge.

“... Face forward towards the truth. That’s all you can do. If you don’t, this dumb game will never end,” Kaede told herself, hating the lingering hints of unease peeking through the stern determination in her voice. It wasn’t particularly comforting, but it gave her something to focus on beyond her own swirling thoughts and feelings. “You owe it to them to see this through. This… doesn’t change anything. Just keep pressing on, and whatever truths you find, face them with Chiaki and everyone else. That’s the only way to fix things and make sure everyone gets out of here alive,” She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stand up straight as if she were giving someone else this rousing speech. “So that’s what you have to do, no matter what! Don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself if there’s something you can do about it! Tomorrow, I’ll start looking for the truth, and I won’t stop until I have it!”

Kaede meant every word of it. No matter what she found, no matter how painful, it didn’t matter if it meant she finally had the chance to save her friends from this damned nightmare. It was with that burning determination that she forced herself away from the wall and strode to the opposite end of the room to her desk. On it laid her monopod, and within that, the first step of her investigation.

She’d never intended on watching whatever motive video she received. It wasn’t her place to know someone’s crimes if they didn’t want to tell her with everything she’d done. She felt that unshakingly even as she flicked the device on and scrolled to the still-blinking icon containing the video, her finger hoving just above it in hesitation. She didn’t  _ want _ to do this… but she  _ had _ to. The only way she could start finding clues one way or the other was if she investigated at least a few of the other tapes. 

_ “That always seems to be the reason, isn’t it?” _ A bitter voice suspiciously like her own chastised in her mind.

She tensed her jaw. “Yes. It is.” She hissed out, and before her conscience could try to shame her again, she pressed the icon. Her eyes widened in surprise and a twinge of guilt as the video’s person of topic faded into view moments later.

**Ultimate Crimes: True Tales of the Killing Game**

**Episode 13: Tsumugi Shirogane, Ultimate Cosplayer**

Kaede stared at the screen silently for a long, thoughtful moment.

And then she pressed play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bumbumbummm! I wonder what on earth this could possibly mean? Perhaps we'll get to see next chapter! Be sure to get your guesses for Tsumugi's tape in now!
> 
> By the way, a big shout out/fuck you to Gonta, Cool Kid, and Ditto on the Discord for making CSpratt and I realize how fucking stupid 3-1 actually is when you look at the evidence and compare it to what the game says happens. Seriously, Kaede's trap is straight up fucking magic and teleports around as the game wills. Look:
> 
> Kaede setting up the camera: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/danganronpa/images/a/a2/Danganronpa_V3_CG_-_Kaede_Akamatsu_and_Shuichi_Saihara_setting_the_trap_%285%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20180313120928
> 
> Its initial angle [courtesy of Ditto]: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/732975425588035644/749334584839241799/unknown.png
> 
> Rantaro's body: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/732975425588035644/745132211195609117/latest.png
> 
> The angle after he's dead [once again Ditto]: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/732975425588035644/749334578443059260/unknown.png
> 
> what the actual fuckles, V3.
> 
> Anyhoos, we've got one of the big mysteries set up and some fun stuff ahead, so thanks for reading, and stay tuned! :D
> 
> -MrCynical


	24. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede views her motive video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This took a little bit longer than usual due to classes, but here it is! Hope it's worth the wait! :D
> 
> -MrCynical

** _“Hello hello hello, viewers, and welcome to Ultimate Crimes, the show where we reveal to the public all of the horrible things that turned some of our most promising students into heartless killers! We’ve got a special one today, ladies and gentlemen, so grab a snack and a seat! All ready? Good! Then brace yourself, because the murderer we’ll be covering today will be… Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer!”_ **

Kaede watched the screen in silence, dread and morbid curiously mixing as she pressed her lips into a thin line. After all the vague references and arguments about it, she was finally going to learn what exactly caused Tsumugi to end up on this ship. It made her stomach twist to think about, but that anxiety and twinge of guilt wasn’t enough to make her stop the video before she found the answers she was looking for, her fingers staying unwaveringly in place as Monokuma’s voice continued to drone on and on.

** _“As one would expect of someone with the title of Ultimate, Tsumugi’s abilities are far more impressive than her plain appearance would have you believe. With her cosplaying talent, she’s able to replicate any fictional character perfectly; from creating outfits that match every detail of the source with perfect accuracy, to being able to replicate their voices and actions flawlessly, she managed to become a huge name at anime conventions all over the world! _ **

** _With all the skills that her cosplaying career had allowed her to acquire, she had no shortage of possible career paths. From an actor, to a fashion designer, to a career in espionage, to even just sticking with the world of cosplay, there was no shortage of paths for this young woman to take in her life. So knowing that, what possibly could have happened to make her throw her entire future down the drain?_ **

** _Well… in Tsumugi’s case, it all began when she joined her killing game’s student council alongside several other Ultimates. Together, the counsel had one simple stated goal: to stop the killing game entirely by preventing any more murders from occurring. Little did they realize one of their members would soon end up going against everything the counsel stood for! _ **

** _One day, whilst Tsumugi went off to work on a project with one of her fellow council members, the Ultimate Robot known as K1-B0, in what initially seemed to be a freak accident, a piece of debris from a nearby working Exisal ended up smacking K1-B0 right in the top of his head, causing a bit of his mechanical hair to fly right off! As it turns out, this piece ended up causing K1-B0’s behavior to change a little, as he ended up going after Tsumugi without speaking. Instead of taking any time to figure out what was going on, Tsumugi decided to run all the way to the lab of the Ultimate Inventor, Miu Iruma, and burst through the doors while she was working.”_ **

_ “So that’s what Kiyo meant during the trial…” _ Akamatsu realized. The context of it made her remorse for framing the brunette grow even further. _ “Being accused of that must have been like going through her trial all over again. Poor Tsumugi…” _

** _“Without giving an explanation to the confused inventor about what was happening, Tsumugi immediately grabbed the first thing she saw in the lab, which just so happened to be a prototype Electrohammer that Miu had recently developed. However, that hammer had an interesting bug about it; when it hit machines, it ended up discharging so much electricity into them that they ended up getting permanently fried! So naturally, once K1-B0 entered the lab… WHAM! One smack from that Electrohammer, and the Ultimate Robot’s circuits were quickly and effectively fried, shutting him down… forever.”_ **

Kaede gasped out in shock and horror as the footage showed exactly as described, Tsumugi slamming the bulky hammer into Keebo’s chest and crackling lightning surging over the Ultimate Robot’s seizing form until he shuddered to the ground in a heap. With a few last desperate twitches and death throes, he finally fell still, his soft blue eyes fading to a lifeless grey. “O-oh my god…”

She hadn’t been especially close to Keebo, but that didn’t make witnessing his brutal end any easier. The beginnings of tears welled in her eyes at the sight of his painfully stiff body, her grip tightening around the pad in her hands. She should have expected it, but she hadn’t, and it struck her as hard as a punch to the gut to witness. “No! Keebo...!”

Despite her heavy heart, however, she had little time to focus on his demise before Monokuma’s mocking voice once again blared from the speakers.

** _“Now, maybe up to this point, you could argue that she was merely defending herself. Of course, her next move proved the whole scenario was anything but an act of self defense!_ **

** _Naturally, upon seeing that one of the few friends she had had his circuits permanently fried like a bug in a zapper, Miu immediately rushed over to his side to see if she could do something, at which point Tsumugi saw an opportunity to make her move. As Miu desperately tried to fix K1-B0, Tsumugi grabbed the item Miu had been working on before Tsumugi burst in, and upon discovering from the blueprints that it was a device designed to both block and recover memories, immediately grabbed it and gave it a test run on the Ultimate Inventor herself, knocking her unconscious before making her forget all about the events that she had just witnessed. _ **

** _And then, just to top it all off before running away, Tsumugi decided to move Miu’s body to make it look like Miu had broken K1-B0 herself during a tinkering session! That way, when Miu woke up, all she discovered was her friend’s dead body below her! Miu’s inventions saved Tsumugi from being chased, and in exchange for her service, Tsumugi decided to kill Miu’s friend in front of her, and then take away her memories so she could frame Miu for her crime! Puhuhu… How absolutely traitorous!_ **

** _So tell me, viewers… does that sound like the kind of person who’s worthy of trust?”_ **

With that, the screen cut to black, leaving Kaede staring at her own teary-eyed reflection. “... So, that’s what happened…” She said quietly, her voice tinted with sorrow as she processed the tragedy she’d just witnessed. Without Monokuma jabbering on and on over footage of a crime she never lived to see, Keebo’s death finally had a moment to sink in, her heart breaking with the inherent unfairness of it all.

Tsumugi didn’t mean to kill him. Not even in the sense of killing the wrong target like Kaede herself <strike>thought</strike><strike>she</strike> had, but a truly unintentional death brought about through little to no fault of her own. Yet, from the sounds of it, Keebo hadn’t been at fault either. He was malfunctioning, likely not in his right mind, but that wasn’t enough to stay Tsumugi’s hand in the moment. Totally accidental as it was, that misfortune was enough to sign both of their death warrants.

Yet, it couldn’t all be chopped up to accident, could it? Even if everything before that point was out of her control, Tsumugi chose to frame Miu. She willingly chose to implicate an innocent person knowing that everyone else would _ die _ because of it if her plan worked. It was horrible… but, when her other option was to just admit it and suffer a death doubtlessly as cruel as the musician’s own excruciating end…

Something warm splashed down on Kaede’s cheek. Sure enough, she could see the tears beginning to fall, hot with anger and pain. A bubbling sense of furious grief rose in her chest. All of this suffering because of that _ goddamned _ bear. Tsumugi, Keebo, every other killer and victim, some of them burdened with the agony of not even knowing why or _ who _ they betrayed… she hated it. She hated it so, _ so _ much…

Kaede squeezed the monopad in her hands tightly, letting out a long, shuddering breath as she clamped her eyes shut. _ “Calm down. You can’t do anything to stop any of this if you waste time crying. Settle down and focus!” _ She scolded herself, forcing a deep breath. It did little to dispel the pain in her heart, but she was at least able to grab a hold of herself through the breathing techniques Sakura had taught her earlier that day. When her shaky breaths returned to something more even and her aching eyes finally managed to keep her still-burgeoning tears in place, she gently set the pad down on the desk in front of her, taking one last breath before speaking to herself.

“Okay… it’s horrible. But, it’s something to work off of. There’s bound to be a few answers to some questions in here. You can find out what if you think it through…”

So, she tried to do just that. The obvious ones were self-explanatory; who did Tsumugi kill, why, and how were the entire point of the video. However, with a close enough look, she could figure out solutions to some less obvious but more poignant questions as well. From what Korekiyo and Tsumugi herself had said during the trial, she could be fairly certain the Ultimate Anthropologist lived through Shirogane’s murder. Since Tsumugi had apparently survived Kirumi’s trial, but didn’t seem to know Korekiyo’s case, that had to mean she killed in between the two of them. Knowing that, she could conclude…

… nothing, really.

While it was definitely information she didn’t have before, it didn’t actually give her much to work with in terms of identifying the fake video. Nothing about it stood out as immediately wrong compared with what she already knew, and she didn’t have enough information about what happened… _ later _ to tell if there should be. It was impossible to tell if it was a fake when she hardly knew the context for any of it to begin with. In that regard, the tape offered her very little. It could potentially make trying to reconnect with Tsumugi easier, but…

Kaede sighed, shaking her head. _ “Telling her I watched her video would probably be the worst thing I could do at this point. She’d probably figure things out even if I tried being subtle… hell, considering how Keebo died, it’s no wonder she has trust issues. And I didn’t really do her any favors with that, did I…?” _ She thought with a frown. As if she didn’t have enough reasons to feel guilty...

So, all in all, watching Tsumugi’s tape had confirmed a few stray details, but was impossible to tell the relevance of until she had a clearer view of the big picture. That… wasn’t great, but it was at least technically more than she’d had going into it. Bare minimum, it served to give her a clear next step: find out as much as she could about the killing game after her case. The sooner she could see the whole tapestry, the sooner she could start pulling on threads and see which ones unraveled. Until then, however, her only choice was to keep scrounging up whatever clues she could and try to piece them together one by one.

“And there’s no way to do that in the middle of the night, which means…” Kaede murmured, her frown deepening as her eyes trailed over to the bed. She bit her lip, dreading what would likely come next, but there was little sense in putting off the inevitable when she could do nothing else in the meantime. It was almost funny to think she’d loved sleeping in once upon a time. Assuming she didn’t forget because she was so busy playing the piano, anyway… she’d woken up slumped against her beloved ivories more than a few times during particularly involved sessions. Bittersweet memories that seemed impossible to imagine happening again with everything she’d experienced left her with a wistful feeling as she reluctantly readied herself for bed. If she were lucky, she could manage another sleep without any nightmares, at least. 

With that tentative hope in mind, Kaede reluctantly slipped between the covers, her body and eyes heavy with the exhaustion of the latest ordeal and the day overall, resigning herself to whatever followed as she felt the waves of unconsciousness once again nip and pull at her mind until it dragged her into the depths.

***

Her wish wouldn’t be granted, unfortunately.

It wasn’t any particular surprise when Kaede once again found herself in the kitchen early the following morning, the blonde doing her best to chase away her grogginess with the coffee recipe Kirumi had drilled into her the day prior. It was even less of a surprise that she was already nursing a cup when Kirumi walked in, the concern tinging her vivid emerald eye despite her polite smile making the ex-pianist grimace internally. To her credit, though, Kirumi gave her a good fifteen minutes of chatting as she casually went about breakfast’s pre-preparations to willingly bring the topic up before taking the initiative herself. “... Kaede… I’m sorry to be blunt, but I cannot help but notice it’s another early morning for you.”

Akamatsu’s smile faltered to a more rueful look. “... Ha, yeah, I guess it is…” She tried to play off with a small laugh. As expected, Kirumi didn’t buy it for a second, making her repeat her answer in a more honest tone. “... Yeah. It is.”

“... I see…” Tojo replied neutrally. She couldn’t fully hide the hint of worry in her voice, old and dulled by years of experience, yet there all the same. Her expression was similarly masked, but the way the maid straightened up and something firm settled behind her eyes made it clear to Kaede what she was going to ask before the words ever left her mouth. “Then I’m afraid there’s something else I must ask. Though I can’t and won’t force you to do anything, have you thought of talking about this to someone like I encouraged?”

Though a fair thing to ask and unmistakably coming from the best of intentions, those words stung Kaede a little, almost feeling like an accusation. Despite that, Kaede didn’t hesitate very long to answer despite a tingling feeling of self-consciousness trying to stop her. “I have, actually. I didn’t tell her everything, but I had a talk with Mikan, and she had some ideas for treatments we could try. I… started talking to Chiaki about things, too,” She answered a touch more vaguely. It wasn’t a lie, but to say it was what Kirumi likely thought it was definitely would be. Pushing on from that, though, she managed a small smile. “And I’ve got you, Kaito, and Mondo. So, yeah. I’m getting a hold of it, I think. Or trying to, at least.”

The maid’s imploring look changed to one of surprise and finally contentment at that, her gaze softening with approval. “Ah. Wonderful. I’m truly pleased to hear that, Kaede. I apologize for being so forceful.”

The blonde waved it off. “It’s fine. I… know I haven’t really been great at being open with this sort of thing. But, I’m getting better!” She reassured, forcing herself to ignore the elephant in the room only she was aware of. Seeing as how _ that _ was the last thing she wanted to think about right now, she tried to change the topic as smoothly as she could, her eyes trailing to what Kirumi was doing. “Though speaking of getting better, do you think you could show me the ropes of cooking a little more today? I think I’m good enough that I won’t set water on fire anymore, but there’s always room for improvement!”

Kirumi seemed to notice her eagerness wasn’t exclusively born out of interest, a brief debate flickering in her eye before she ultimately decided to let it slide. “Of course. There is one recipe I have been considering, if you’re interested. Have you ever had quiche?”

And so went that morning’s breakfast, with Kaede following along with Kirumi’s instructions well enough to understand the gist of it until Teruteru arrived. They were an unlikely trio to say the least, but just as it had the morning before, it served as a remarkably fun way to keep her mind off of the horrors of recent events. The meal came and went without anything especially of note, though Kaito seemed chipper even by his standards on account of the upcoming game. A general buzz of mild excitement was evident for almost everyone present to some extent, in fact, a sign of unity that was a welcome reprieve for Kaede’s troubled heart.

Ultimately, the service came to an end around its usual time, the students splitting off on their own individually or in small groups as their business concluded. Kaede stayed to help with the clean-up as usual, leaving roughly an hour and a half before the match started by the time all was said and done. That left her with a few options.

First, she could use that time to try and continue her investigation. She was already planning on looking around the park after the match, but it would let her get a bit of a head start, which potentially had its benefits. On the other hand… she really, _ really _ didn’t want to. Kaede was dedicated to finding the truth of her case, but that didn’t mean she was especially eager to delve right back into the thick of it first thing in the morning after already enduring multiple deeply emotionally taxing days in a row. Her plans to look around after the match’s conclusion were already born more of a sense of duty and obligation than particular choice in the matter. Still, the option was on the table if she did decide to take on the extra burden.

Second, she could try seeing if anyone wanted to hang out beforehand. It would let her ease into the day before the real work began that afternoon, not to mention being a prime opportunity to strengthen her bonds with the others. It could potentially even be a shot at rekindling some of her more strained relationships on the ship if they were willing to tolerate her presence one on one. It was a tempting idea for sure…

Lastly, she could volunteer to help set up the match with Kaito and whoever else was with him. It struck a nice middle ground of fun and productive since it was directly in service of her goal of uniting everyone and would just be enjoyable in general. Plus, depending on who was present, it could still let her potentially talk to someone she still needed to prove herself to, wedging an opening to try and make things right with them. _ “... And, come to think of it, actually knowing how to play soccer beyond just kicking the thing would probably be good to know going into this, huh?” _ Akamatsu noted, smirking bashfully at her own oversight. _ “I guess that gung-ho spirit of Kaito’s is rubbing off on me.” _

Weighing the three, the best choice was easy to determine, Kaede giving herself a small nod as she confirmed her course of action. Setting up the match would be the best use of her time, and so that’s exactly what she’d do. Without waiting another moment, Kaede started on the trek towards Felony Funland.

***

It took much longer to get there than Kaede would have liked. It had been obvious during her walk with Leon and Kaito, but it was excruciatingly so making the journey by herself, the soft clicks of her own footsteps in the barren halls serving as her only company. Not having to keep pace with other people let her go faster than previously, but speed walking could only do so much in the face of the ship’s obnoxiously long corridors. But, she did make it to the lab with just under an hour to spare, so there was still plenty of time to figure things out. 

Strolling through the main gate to Leon’s lab, Kaede was a little surprised to find no one was standing out in the field. It looked like there were some new lines of chalk etched out into a rectangle if she squinted, but whoever painted it was nowhere to be found. A glance to the batting cages proved just as fruitless, making Kaede raise her eyebrow. “Huh… that’s kind of weird. It doesn’t look like they’re done, so where are they…?” She muttered to herself. It didn’t seem like Kaito to just half-bake something he was so passionate about. There wouldn’t be any reason for him to leave it like that… unless... she shook her head. _ “He and Leon are probably just looking for things in the dugout or something. It’s nothing. Just head over and see.” _

Kaede walked over to the smallish building semi-casually, assuring herself that the hard-headed duo would be waiting inside and prove that small spike of worry meaningless. There was no reason to get herself worked up over something easily explainable like that. That thought comforted her as she opened the doors and stepped inside. “Hey, guys! Sorry if I’m a little late! It looks like there’s still some stuff to do, though, so how can I help?” She called out with a broad smile… to no response. Her beam slowly faded away, deepening into a look of uncertainty. “... Guys?”

Silence met her once again. She stepped further inside, doing a brief investigation of the small yet unnervingly quiet building, but found nothing. Neither hide nor hair of either Ultimate was present as far as the eye could see. A cold dread began to creep up her shoulders as the musician tried to figure out what was going on. _ “They aren’t here either…? But Kaito said he’d be here early to get things set up, and I saw Leon go with him. Where the hell are they?” _ She thought, concern rising in her chest. She tried to ignore the way her heart quickened and forced herself to think over other explanations than was her paranoia was whispering in the back of her mind. “... The music room! Maybe they just wanted to take a break and are messing around in there!” Kaede gasped out, clinging onto the idea for all it was worth. That _ had _ to be it. 

It was that sentiment that propelled her towards the other part of Leon’s lab, the blonde hastily making her way to the door before her body seemed to freeze against her will as her hand touched the cold handle. It had barely been two days since she stumbled across Hifumi’s mangled corpse horrifically left out on display, and she hadn’t even known someone was missing when that happened. As desperate as she was to push it from her mind, there was a very real possibility that something similar could be hiding behind that door, and that thought chilled her blood. She wasn’t ready for something like that. She didn’t think she’d _ ever _ be ready for anything like it again for the rest of her life. But… if something really _ had _ happened, and they lost vital evidence because she was too scared to confront that possibility…

Kaede gathered every bit of courage she had, and with a deep breath, threw the doors open.

And, inside, she found Leon Kuwata…

… Experimentally strumming at a guitar, face scrunched in annoyed focus, but alive and well.

A deep sigh of relief tumbled forth from Kaede, the crushing tension in her shoulders vanishing in an instant and warmth gradually returning to her veins as the worst of her fears were debunked. The girl put a hand over her pounding heart in a vain attempt to soothe it. “Oh, thank god,” She gasped out under her breath, swallowing down the last remnants of her brief panic as she quickly tried to compose herself. It wouldn’t do to look frenzied in a situation like this, after all. Managing a loose, friendly grin, she waved over to the redhead. “Hey, Leon!”

The redhead apparently hadn’t noticed her arrival as the guitar gave a sharp and jagged cry as he jumped and wildly tore his pick across the strings in the process. “Wh- Jesus! Ow!” He shouted out in dismay, nearly tripping in surprise and wincing deeply at the piercing sound his instrument made as a result. Kaede wasn’t fairing much better, clenching her teeth from how loud it was to her poor, sensitive ears, but she didn’t have much time to recover before a pinprick-eyed Leon turned to her in a mixture of surprise and lingering fear that was very quickly becoming annoyance. “K-Kaede? Wh-what the hell, man?!”

“Sorry! I thought you saw me!” Akamatsu defended, raising her arms up in a show of good faith even as she felt some annoyance of her own at his accusing glare. “I wasn’t trying to scare you or anything like that. You don’t have to yell at me.”

Leon blinked, his harsh look fading to a softer expression of apologetic-twinged annoyance. “... Yeah, I guess that’s true…” He reluctantly conceded, crossing his arms with a frown and letting the guitar hang around him from the strap. “Sorry. You just… kinda scared the crap out of me there. I didn’t think anyone would be showing up for a while.”

Kaede smiled apologetically. “It’s fine. I’m sorry for startling you, too. As for why I’m here, I figured you guys could probably use some help setting everything up… though, that reminds me; where exactly is Kaito? I looked all over, but he’s not around here.”

“Oh, he couldn’t find anything to use as a net, so he and that big dude in the suit… uh, Gonta, right?” Leon asked, quickly continuing at her nod. “Yeah, he and Gonta left to find one like twenty minutes ago.”

Even if she’d already assumed as much, it was a great relief to have Kaito’s safety confirmed, especially when he was paired up with someone as tough as Gonta. What little tension was left in her body finally laxed at that, air seeming to pass into her lungs much easier as she nodded in understanding. It occurred to her a moment that she could have checked the map for herself to see if he was alright, but in her defense, she wasn’t exactly thinking straight with how much fear was plaguing her mind at the time. She forced herself to ignore that light embarrassment and instead address the would-be rockstar. “Ah, yeah, that makes sense. I guess nets wouldn’t really come up much in baseball, huh?”

Leon frowned slightly, but agreed. “Yeah. Not a ton.”

The silence that followed was awkward, to say the least. Kaede initially expected him to say more about it, but didn’t really have any conversational backup plans ready when he failed to, leaving her at a loss. Likewise, despite not having anything more to say, the silence seemed to make Leon uneasy, the athlete starting to shift uneasily on his feet as it dragged on. Kaede glanced around as she took a few steps towards the stage, eager to try to find something to change the topic to. Just as it occurred to her to ask what he was trying with the guitar, however, he suddenly spoke up. “... Hey, Kaede?”

The maestro paused, a little surprised by the sudden seriousness in his voice. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“I… get me and you haven’t really… I’ve...” He started only to trail off as suddenly as he began, discomfort leaking into his expression clear as day. A few uncertain moments passed before Kuwata let out a deep sigh, rubbing at his head guiltily. “Oh, screw it. Look, I’ll be honest. I’ve been acting like a real dickhead. To… basically everyone, but a lot of it’s been towards you. So… sorry.”

That… was basically the last thing Kaede expected to her from Leon, of all people. She hadn’t known him that long or particularly well in that short time since they met, but he hadn’t exactly proven himself to be the sort for self-reflection or apologies in her experiences with him so far. Perhaps that was just her being too hard on him, however, a grateful smile coming to her. “It’s alright-”

“No, it isn’t,” Leon interrupted, a slight scowl coming over him. “I might not have been totally in the wrong. Like… not gonna lie, I thought for sure you were trying to play me. But… you weren’t, and it wasn’t cool of me to keep thinking like that when it started being obvious. If you were like…” He paused, his eyes darkening despite the pained grimace on his face until he gave a small shake of his head. “Nevermind. Point is, I’ve been having my own crap going, yeah, but it wasn’t cool of me to either freak out on ya or Kaito or whoever else whenever you tried to help out. So, sorry for misjudging you.”

Kaede watched him for a moment, reevaluating her conceptions of the Ultimate Baseball Star. The regret and discomfort in his expression and voice made it obvious he was being sincere, all traces of his usual phoned-in bravado or bitter shielding missing from him at the moment. It was a side of him she’d only seen brief glimpses of in the past, and never very closely when they happened. Her lips quirked up thankfully. “It really is fine, but… apology accepted. With all the craziness that’s been happening, I don’t blame you for being afraid to believe other people,” She exonerated. His lips twitched disapprovingly at the word ‘afraid’, which quickly made her clarify before her poor word choice could offset what she was trying to do. “Or… hesitant, I guess fits better. It’s not easy to do… so, I’m glad you’re willing to trust me after everything. Thank you. I promise you won’t regret this.”

Despite her best efforts, Leon’s expression twisted at that, an uneasy mix of slight guilt and a much larger amount of firmness on his face. “Er… that’s a little much. I mean, I’m not gonna pretend I totally trust you. We’re not that close.”

The firm words swatted her soaring hopes back down to reality. “Ah… that’s fair,” She conceded, disappointment slipping into her eyes even as she reluctantly nodded. “I shouldn’t have overstepped like that.”

The resolve in Kuwata’s face didn’t fade away, but his stance slowly softened. “But… if you’re cool with it, I… wouldn’t mind hanging out with you every once in a while,” He said quickly, almost as if he were trying to get the words out before he could psych himself out of it. Kaede’s surprise was equal to her joy at the sudden turnaround, a delighted grin coming over her. Before she could say anything in thanks, however, he was quick to add some stipulations. “In public! And, like, during the day. No dorms or whatever, and definitely not at night. Okay?”

Akamatsu blinked, tilting her head slightly at the oddly specific ground rules. “Er… sure?”

He waited a moment, scrutinizing her, before a meager smile slowly came to him. “Then… cool. Yeah. Cool!” He declared, nodding as if to assure himself that it was, in fact, cool. His smirk grew bigger in turn, but after a few moments of silence, he seemed at a loss for what to do. “So… uh… what now?”

Kaede pondered that for a moment. In all honesty, a large part of her was curious why exactly he’d chosen _ now _ to trust her, given how many others had made the exact opposite decision after the trial. Her curious nature nagged at her to pursue that strand of thought… but, at the same time, she had a feeling questioning him on it might undo that very progress. Whatever his reasons were and however odd the timing seemed, he’d otherwise given her no reason to question his sincerity, and so she wouldn’t. Out loud, anyway. Choosing not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she decided to try her original idea for small talk, raising a finger as she spoke. “Well, you looked like you were doing something with your guitar earlier. What were you trying out?”

“Hm? Oh! Yeah! I was testing out some chord ideas I got. Weren’t really running as smoothly as I wanted, though…” He grumbled slightly, crossing his arms again and glaring down at the instrument.

She hummed, rubbing at her chin. “Hmmm… I’m not that familiar with guitars, but I might be able to help out. We should have a little bit of time before Kaito gets-”

Suddenly, the door behind Kaede swung open, bathing the room in the bright light of the baseball field. “Hey, Leon! We found something for the- oh, awesome! Good to see you’re here too, Kaede!”

_ “Speak of the devil,” _ She thought to herself as she turned to find none other than Kaito in the doorway with one of his signature beams lighting up the room almost as much as the actual floodlights were. “Sorry, Leon; I think we’re gonna need a raincheck for the guitar. Hey, Kaito!”

She didn’t see the momentary look of disappointment on Leon’s face, but even if she had, it was gone as quickly as it appeared. In its place was that surefire smirk of his as he greeted the Ultimate Astronaut. “Yo! So you figured something out after all, huh?”

Kaito flashed the pair a thumbs up. “Of course! You gotta be creative to be an astronaut! Gonta’s bringing all the equipment over right now, so we’re gonna start setting them up in a minute! You guys ready?”

Kaede nodded, her smile blooming with excitement. “Yep! I don’t know a lot about soccer, but it seems like it’ll be fun to try! You said you’d be teaching before we started playing, right?”

“Yeah; once the nets are up, we can change into those baseball uniforms and get some practice in. It’s pretty easy once you know it,” Momota affirmed before slamming his fists together with a determined grin. “So let’s stop talking and get started already!”

Kaede and Leon headed his boisterous demand, though Kuwata seemed less eager to leave his guitar in favor of manual labor. Still, he came along all the same as they went to the modified baseball diamond where Gonta was trying to neatly organize the various supplies he and Kaito had apparently scavenged for. She wasn’t entirely sure where they’d gotten the nets or the framework that went around them (the Mononmono machine? Some overlooked corner of Sakura’s lab? Perhaps that gift store with the dolls?) and ultimately supposed it didn’t matter as the four made quick work of assembling them, and having Gonta set them into the proper positions.

“Alright! Good going, guys! At this rate, we should be able to get-” Kaito quickly checked the clock on his monopad to confirm the time. “-about half an hour in before anyone else shows up!”

“Gonta glad to be helpful!” The man in question said proudly, smiling broadly before it turned slightly bashful and he rubbed at the back of his head. “Uh, if Gonta being honest, he also glad there lots of time to practice first. Gonta not want to look like idiot.”

Kaede gave him a reassuring smile. “Ah, don’t say stuff like that, Gonta! Lots of us aren’t really familiar with sports, so you wouldn’t look silly or anything like that! Besides, I wouldn’t be too surprised if most people needed at least a few minutes to get a hang of things before we really got started anyway.”

Gokuhara looked relieved at that. “Ah… that make sense. Gonta not as embarrassed, then. Thank you, Kaede.”

The ex-pianist gave him another smile, but left it at that, prompting Leon to lead the conversation. “So… if you’re serious about wearing those dumb outfits, we should probably get them on already, right?” He reminded, shoving his hands into his jacket’s pockets.

Kaito snapped to attention, quickly getting back on track. “Right! The outfits are are in the dugout, so let’s throw ‘em on and then I can show you guys the ropes! C’mon” He instructed with absolute confidence as he turned and strutted towards the building in question. Kaede, however, quickly found an error with this.

“Er, wait. Isn’t the dugout only one room?”

Kaito stopped, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah? What’s the problem?”

Kaede let a moment to pass to see if he was joking. When it became painfully clear he wasn’t, she crossed her arms, fixing him with a stern look. “Uh, Kaito? Are you sure you aren’t overlooking something?” She asked, her tone as rhetorical as she could possibly manage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t obvious enough for Momota, who just stared at her in confusion for several seconds until her patience ran out. “Kaito, I’m not changing in front of a bunch of guys!”

That bombshell was thankfully big enough to get through Kaito’s remarkably thick skull, the lilac teen’s jaw dropping and eyes widening in panicked realization. “O-oh! Uh...” He sputtered out, looking mildly horrified. Kaede’s gaze turned expectant as she waited for an answer.

Gonta, however, was too aghast at the realization to let him come up with one. “Ah! Kaede right! There no way gentlemen and ladies can take off clothes in same room! That…” His face took on a shade of red, the painfully innocent boy wildly shaking his head. “No can happen!”

“Dude, why are you freaking out? We can just go at different times. It’s not that big a deal.” Leon argued, but Gokuhara wouldn’t settle for it.

“That work for now, but what happen when everyone have to get changed? Gonta… not like to think bad things of friends, but Gonta not sure all of them gentlemen… mostly Teruteru, but still. If he or someone else try to go in…”

“If he or anyone else tried that, he’d be seeing stars for a month. Mark my words...” Kaede threatened, scowling at the thought. “But yeah; we need different areas to change. So, do we have any ideas?”

Kaito abruptly snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! We’ll move all the guys’ uniforms into the music room! Problem solved!”

“Wh- hang on a damn minute! Why does there have to be a bunch of half-naked guys in my studio?! I don’t wanna deal with that!” Leon refused incredulously.

Kaito shook his head. “The dugout’s more private; it just makes sense that’s where the girls get changed.”

Kuwata opened his mouth to object, but after a moment, he seemed to reconsider as the logic of it set in. The sharp and practically daring look of the one girl actually present might have influenced that slightly, but still. “... Tch… I mean, yeah, I guess that makes sense. But… ugh, fine. But they’re not getting anywhere near the stage!”

Kaito gave a small shrug. “If you say so, man. ‘Sides, I don’t really see the big deal. It’s not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before, right?”

Leon looked at him, blinking. “... What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Momota once again looked puzzled. “You used to play baseball. You had to have been in the locker rooms at least a couple of times, right?”

“... Oh. Yeah. Couldn’t friggin’ avoid it...” The athlete lamely replied, crossing his arms and glancing away. 

Kaede raised an eyebrow at the odd response, but Kaito took it a step further. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. What’d you think I meant?”

“Nothing!” The redhead dismissed rather quickly. That only added to the blonde’s disbelieving curiosity, but he didn’t give a chance for further questioning. “Well, come on! Are we gonna sit around talking about putting the things on or actually do it?!”

Wanting to get things back on track (and save herself and Leon having to endure any more awkward exchanges like that), Kaede nodded in agreement. “He’s right; we don’t have time for this. I’ll just go in and hand you all the guy uniforms, and you can put them in the music room until they’re here. Deal?”

They didn’t have any objection, so that was what happened, Kaede gathering the guys’ uniforms and handing them off at the door. Once they were on their way to the studio, she went back and changed into the surprisingly comfortable outfit. It took a bit of meddling to swap clothes with the stupid bracelet still stuck on her wrist (she _ hated _ the fact that she was already used to it enough that it usually slipped her mind), and a few minutes to get used to walking in pants after pretty much exclusively wearing skirts for years, but it passed soon enough, a confident smile coming to her face as she looked herself over in the mirror. 

The pinstriped white and red uniform was fairly generic aside from the Monokuma eye that took the place of an actual team logo, but she kind of liked it. She experimentally tried on one of the helmets, scoffing a little when her ever-present strand of hair almost comically poked out from under the brim, but grinned all the same. “Heh, not bad! I almost look like the real deal!” She thought aloud before closing the locker on her backpack and clothes inside it. Without further ado, she went out to meet up with the others and learn how to play the game.

The rules were pretty simple to Kaede’s mind. As Kaito explained it, there was the obvious stipulation of not touching the ball aside from the goalies, no unnecessary violence, fairly general stuff that mostly served as the background for what earned penalty shots. It was trickier trying to recall all the positions he rattled off, but she was pretty sure she got the gist of it. All in all, at least on the casual level they were playing, it was a lot simpler than the blonde had originally anticipated. That worked out pretty well for her given her nonexistent familiarity with sports, though she had no doubt the real challenge would come from trying to keep up with a class full of considerably athletic Ultimates.

It was about fifteen minutes after Kaito’s initial explanation wrapped up and he began showing her and Gonta the basic forms of kicking that the rest of their crewmates started to show up. Punctual as ever were Kirumi and Korekiyo, followed a few minutes later by Sakura, Peko, Teruteru, and so on as the minutes ticked by to their arranged meeting time. Even though she’d already agreed to it, Kaede couldn’t help but feel a little surprised that Tsumugi actually came, offering the bluenette a strained smile and wave when she saw her. The small frown and pointed look away stung more than Akamatsu would care to admit. 

By the time the clock struck eleven, everyone was present, changed and waiting on the field, with one notable exception. “-eleven, twelve, thirteen… hey, has anybody seen Mikan?” Kaito asked, his head tilting curiously when he realized Tsumiki wasn’t there. Indeed, a quick glance around showed the neurotic nurse was the only one of their number missing among the sea of matching white and red uniforms, to Kaede’s confusion and concern.

“Hmm… I definitely saw her here… she might still be in the dugout, I think.” Chiaki suggested, looking off in thought.

Tsumugi tapped at her chin. “Yeah, I think so, too. She was still getting changed when I left, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see her come out after. It’s plainly what makes sense.”

Gundham crossed his arms, though the gesture looked considerably less imposing than normal considering his bulky and flowing coat was replaced by the bright white uniform that almost looked comical compared to the rest of his gothic appearance.“If the Temptress does indeed linger within the dugout, then why? Though my spirit is millenia old, I am not fond of waiting…”

“Maybe she’s having some trouble getting into the outfit. I’d definitely be willing to lend a hand or two if she needs any help…” Teruteru smirked, only a touch of sheepishness tinting it when practically everyone gathered glared at him disapprovingly. “Ah… nevermind. Maybe this is something that needs a woman’s touch instead.”

Akamatsu rolled her eyes. “I’ll check up on her real quick. Go ahead and start explaining the rules, Kaito; I’ll catch Mikan up.”

“Got it! See you two in a minute, sidekick!” Kaito encouraged with a grin. Turning his focus to the dozen or so people in front of him, he launched into his explanation. “Alright, so first off…”

Kaede didn’t bother listening to his spiel and instead made her way over to the dugout for the third time that morning. Despite Teruteru’s remarks being crude as ever, given it was Mikan, it was far from impossible that she actually did need help of some sort, a thought that kept her pace quick as she approached the doors. She grabbed the handle, but thought better of it a moment later. The poor, shy girl would probably have a heart attack if someone just barged in while she was changing, so to save them both a potential ordeal, she gently knocked on the door. “Hey, Mikan? Can I come in?”

Though muffled by the door, there was no mistaking Tsumiki’s sharp yelp of surprise. “_ EEEP! Kae- woahno-! _ ” She cried out just before a dull _ thump _ rumbled from the other side of the door.

Kaede’s eyes widened in alarm and concern, her hesitation leaving her in an instant as she quickly tossed the door open and rushed inside. She heard the sounds of Mikan’s pitiful whimpering even before noticing the girl herself lying on her back on the floor in front of one of the lockers. She thankfully already had one of the helmets on, but whatever good that did was less important than the spike of concern that filled Kaede at the sight. The maestro gasped out, hurrying to her side to help her up. “Oh my gosh! Mikan, are you okay?!” She asked worryingly as she offered a hand to the fallen teen.

Unfortunately, that only seemed to exacerbate the problem, Mikan’s eyes widening and quickly filling with tears. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to fall down! Sorry!”

Kaede looked at her in bewilderment. “What? Why are you apologizing? Of course it’s not your fault,” She questioned, giving a small shake of her head before presenting her hand again. “Here, let me help you up. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Mikan stared at the ex-pianist’s outstretched hand for a few moments, uncertain, before she hesitantly accepted it and rose to her feet. “N-no. I didn’t hit anything but the ground, a-and even that wasn’t too hard. S-sorry for worrying you…”

The leader of the group stifled the urge to sigh. _ “She could have really gotten hurt, and she’s more worried about my feelings…? Please, Mikan…” _ She noted unhappily, unable to keep a small frown from her face. Mikan grimaced, another string of apologies no doubt waiting on her tongue, but Kaede didn’t give her the chance to leap down that rabbit hole. “It’s really not a problem, Mikan. Remember what I said about being friends?”

“... Th-that they care about each other…” Tsumiki quietly answered. Kaede nodded.

“That’s right. Part of caring about someone is worrying about them. So, since you’re my friend…”

“... I-it doesn’t bother you to make sure I’m okay… r-right?” The fretful girl murmured back. Some of her worry seemed to fade as Akamatsu gave a reassuring simper.

“Right. There’s no need to feel guilty about it, so don’t, okay?”

The uncertain, almost disbelieving look in those watery purple eyes pained Kaede in a way Mikan would likely never understand. It was only a small comfort when she slowly bowed her head and agreed in a voice just barely above a whisper. “O-okay.”

Kaede’s smile grew, partly from relief and partly to try to comfort her friend further. “Good,” She encouraged. Mikan didn’t respond, giving Kaede a chance to examine her to figure out what was wrong to begin with. The nurse was already fully in the uniform without any issues from the looks of it. It was the perfect size, as they seemed to be for everyone else, meaning that wasn’t the problem. The shoes briefly crossed her mind with how Mikan slipped when she knocked, but something about that just didn’t feel right. There had to be _ something _ wrong -Mikan was too frightful to risk intentionally keeping people waiting- but there wasn’t a lot of evidence to determine what at a glance. In place of direct clues, she opted to hear it straight from the person that would know best. “Well, now that that’s settled... is there anything else bothering you, Mikan?”

The lavender-haired girl stayed silent for a few moments, her expression morphing into one of anxious doubt. “N-no, it’s… I’m sorry. That’s not true. Honestly, I… I’m really, r-really nervous about this, Kaede,” She shamefully admitted, her gaze falling to the floor to avoid having to look Kaede in the eye. “I-I’m terrible at sports. I said yes because I thought it’d be fun, b-but what if I screw up and r-ruin things for everyone? I-I’m really clumsy. Wh-what if I mess up during something important and they h-hate me for it? K-Kaito’s really excited for this, s-so it’d just be awful if something went wrong…!”

“Hey, easy. You’re not going to mess up, Mikan. Even if you didn’t make a shot or whatever, no one would hate you for it. This game’s just for fun. No one really cares about winning or losing,” Kaede assured, holding a finger up as she smiled. “As long as you’re having fun, Kaito and everyone else will love it!”

Mikan looked surprised, traces of doubt still lingering in her eyes, but a certain light was present as well now. “Really…? A-are you sure?”

Time to seal it. “Positive!”

As expected, that affirmation was enough to convince Mikan, her lips slowly pulling up in a frail but earnest smile. “I-if you really think so, th-then… okay.”

Kaede beamed, clasping her hands together. “Great! I promise this’ll be a lot of fun,” She encouraged, bringing out more of that wonderful smile on the nurse. It always warmed her heart to see happiness on the fretful woman’s face, especially when it was being so nicely framed by the helmet keeping Tsumiki’s often wild hair into a relatively even curtain around her. She couldn’t resist the urge to say something, a hint of teasing slipping into her grin. “Besides, it’d be a shame if I was the only one who got to see how adorable you look in that outfit.”

Just as she had last time Akamatsu complimented her, Mikan looked positively gobsmacked, her eyes turning as wide as saucers at the flirt. “Hu-wh-I...!” She sputtered in a way that absolutely reaffirmed Kaede’s comment to her mind, scarlet rising in her cheeks as her shock turned to a flustered happiness. “U-um, I, um… thank you!”

A warm and light giggle passed from Kaede’s lips. “You’re welcome, but you don’t have to thank me. It’s the truth,” She teased, enjoying Tsumiki’s small squeak at that. She could happily keep this going all day if she wanted to, but alas, the others were waiting on them. She shook her head lightly to refocus herself. “Anyways, are you good to go?”

Though still (delightfully) flustered, Mikan attempted to compose herself as well, nodding confirming. “Ah, um, y-yes. W-we can go if you’re ready, too. And… um… thank you, again. F-for everything.”

Kaede gave her last one smile, lacking anything besides genuine supportive contentment. “You’re welcome. Let’s go, then. I can explain the rules on the way.”

Without further ado, the pair regrouped with the others, Kaede giving the basic rundown of the most important aspects along the way. A handful of the students were practicing kicks while others had opted to chat amongst themselves, but it quickly halted when Kaito noticed them approaching and started an announcement. “Alright, guys! We’re about to start! Line up so we can figure out teams!”

“Ah, excellent. I’ve been looking forward to this most eagerly…” Korekiyo hummed to himself from the sidelines. The fact that he had no intention of actually _ playing _ made the remark slightly strange, but she was willing to chalk it up to just another of his usual eccentricities as she and Mikan shuffled in with the converging gaggle of Ultimates.

Once everyone participating in the game was gathered in front of Momota aside from Leon, who stood beside the astronaut, Kaito explained the opening step of the match. “Alright! So, here’s how this is gonna work. Since this started as a bet between Leon and me, each of us is gonna be a team captain. Kirumi’s gonna be the referee since she and Kiyo are sitting out. To make up the teams, we’re gonna take turns picking someone each time until everyone here’s grouped up. Make sense?”

Sakura nodded. “That would be the fairest way to split the teams. I see no problem with it.”

Kaede and everyone else gave a collective hum of agreement. With that, Kaito continued. “Good. If that’s out of the way, since I won the bet, I’m gonna take first call,” He said with a grin, either in spite of or perhaps because of Leon’s pout at the reminder of that ridiculously close contest. Without further delay, he pointed directly at the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. “Mondo! You’re with me!”

Owada cracked his neck as he stepped toward and joined Kaito, smirking a bit. “Heh. Smart choice, Space Case.”

Kaito didn’t seem to mind the nickname (which made Kaede wonder if he even realized it was kind of an insult) as he instead just gave the outlaw a thumbs up while Leon scrutinized his potential teammates. “Alright… you! Uh, Gonta! You’re goalie!” He declared, quickly snatching up the absolute powerhouse of a man.

Gonta smiled brightly as he went up next, the height difference between him and the athlete becoming truly noticeable next to one another. “Ah! Thank you! Gonta promise to do his best to keep balls out of net!” The entomologist eagerly agreed. Given he was about the size of the net itself, Kaede was fairly certain getting a ball past him would be pretty hard even if he _ weren’t _ trying, but the enthusiasm was appreciated all the same.

Kaito rubbed at his goatee as he considered his counterpick. “Gonta’s your goalie, huh…? Well, good thing I know who can block shots just as easily! You’re up, Peko!”

The Ultimate Swordswoman looked a touch surprised, likely expecting him to have gone with Sakura for the pure muscle match, but didn’t hesitate to comply, giving a sharp nod of her head. “Very well. None will get past me, if I can help it.”

_ “Guess Kaito’s going for as many of his sidekicks as he can. It’s definitely shaping up to be a pretty touch team, anyway.” _Kaede mused to herself while the round once again switched back to Leon. The redhead barely had a moment to think before a bark of laughter cut him off.

“HA! So, the Luminary seeks to combat the immovable object with the unstoppable force? A wise decision indeed… but it won’t be enough to save you!” Gundham bellowed out, shoving a finger first towards Kaito and then to Leon. “Listen well, Phoenix! Though it is your vote to cast onto the pyre of contest, choose I, Gundham Tanaka, and I shall deliver unto you a victory more glorious than a lowly mortal could ever imagine!”

Kaede was hardly the only one giving him odd looks at that, the speech rather bombastic even for his standards. Probably the one most confused was the one Tanaka was actually trying to convince, Leon staring in absolute bewilderment. “... What? Dude, not a single thing you just said made any sense…” Kuwata grumbled, crossing his arms with a small glower until something seemed to click. “Er… wait, weren’t you saying similar crap in the casino…? Aw, screw it; you look pretty buff at least. You’re in.”

Whether he was accepted for the reasons he wanted or not, Gundham accepted it with almost manic laughter. “BWAHAHAHAHA! Yes! Heed my words; you will find this pact worthy of any sacrifice! We shall stand upon the ashes of his goal laughing uproariously!”

If his prior rant wasn’t enough to turn every head in the room, that one certainly was. Akamatsu shared a glance with Teruteru and Chiaki on either side of her, the chef only responding with a shrug while Nanami was entirely unphased. “Wow… he’s… uh… passionate. Like, crazily so…” She said quietly.

“I wonder if kicking balls is the only thing that gets him that excited…” Teruteru hummed with a lurid smirk. 

Kaede crossed her arms and glared down at him. “Teruteru, I _ will _ kick you if I have to.”

Hanamura grinned wider. “Promise?” He teased, only to quickly throw his hands up despite laughing when she actually did start angling herself to launch him. “Alright, alright; point taken!”

In the midst of that argument, Kaito was engaged in his own, shaking his fist and his declared arch rival. “We’ll see about that! I’m not gonna lose that easily, especially with Sakura on board with me!” He shot back, unofficially unveiling his next pick.

Ogami’s walk over was naturally far less braggadocious than Gundham’s, the martial artist simply bowing her head at her newly declared teammates as she joined them. Peko returned the gesture in full while Mondo rose his head in acknowledgement, though Kaito was too wrapped up in his battle with Gundham to give anything beyond a brief smile in welcome. 

Thankfully, Leon wasn’t inclined to let their bickering drone on the entire time, the baseball star reasserting himself the first chance he got. “Alright! If you’re going with Sakura, then I-” He started confidently, only to falter when he realized every athletically inclined person was already taken. He looked over Kaede, Chiaki, Mikan, Tsumugi, and Teruteru for a few moments, a pensive look flashing over his features until he finally settled for the best of the bottom to his mind. “Er… Mikan, I guess?”

Tsumiki was positively shocked, her jaw dropping in response to Leon’s unconfident call. “R-really…? Wow! I c-can’t believe I’m not getting picked l-last! A-and you didn’t even ask me to be the net! Thank you so much!” Mikan cried out happily, quickly scuttling over to join the somewhat alarmed looking Leon.

“You’re… welcome?” He said uncertainty, clearly hesitant to potentially shatter her good mood despite the incredibly troubling implications of that last remark. A strained, awkward laugh forced its way past his lips as he turned to his rival captain for help. “So, uh, your pick!”

Ever the hero, Kaito was quick to come to Kuwata’s rescue. “R-right!” He agreed, barely taking a moment to look over who was left before bursting into a mile-wide grin. “Well, that’s easy! Get on over here, sidekick!”

Kaede smiled back as she moved to join up with the four, giving a small wave. “Hey, guys! I’m sure we’re gonna do great together!”

With a quick exchange of pleasantries, the last two rounds of selection began. Leon bounced a finger against his arm in thought, glancing over the dwindling list of remaining possible teammates. “Okay… yo, Chia- huh?” He started to call out only to suddenly cut himself off in clear confusion. The reason was clear when the blonde looked over to find Chiaki sleeping on her feet, the gamer softly snoring and entirely detached from the world around her. “Uh… Chiaki? Hello?” He continued in vain, annoyance seeping into his features. “Hey! Chiaki!” He tried again to no response. 

“How does she even stay upright doing that…?” Akamatsu murmured as she rubbed at her head awkwardly. Mondo gave a small shrug.

“Hell if I know. It’s almost kinda impressive, though.”

Sakura crossed her arms. “Her balance is impressive, but she would be better off using it to build her stamina than to sleep. Some exercise would help her feel less tired.”

After a few moments of calling out her name and clapping, Leon seemed to either give up on the idea of her waking up or decided someone as sleepy as her probably wouldn’t be great for the team, glancing over to his other two options and grimacing as he realized just how shallow the talent pool had actually become. “Urgh… fine. On second thought… Teruteru…” He sighed out almost resentfully.

“No need to sound so torn up about it, Leon. I’m quicker on my feet than I look. Decently skilled with them, too!” Teruteru boasted with a proud grin. Leon certainly didn’t look convinced by the claim, but didn’t bother arguing, his choice already sealed for better or worse.

Kaede looked over to the final two students. Chiaki, who was still passed out upright, and Tsumugi, who seemed to be just as spaced out with a slight frown. The maestro thinned her lips. _ “She looks really left out. I can’t imagine how lonely it’d feel to just end up being picked by default…” _ She thought sympathetically. As awkward as things were between them, she only wanted the best for Shirogane. They were friends, once, and ideally could be again if she could start rebuilding the bridge between them. The sight of her like that combined with the lingering embers of their friendship sparked Kaede into action, the blonde getting as close to Kaito as she inconspicuously could. “Hey, Kaito?” 

The astronaut glanced over at her curiously. “What’s up?”

Kaede hesitated a moment, glancing away uncertainly for a moment before finally mustering the courage to meet his eyes and make her request despite the nervousness creeping over her shoulders. “... Could you do me a favor and pick Tsumugi?”

Momota’s momentary surprise quickly gave way to a look of approval, the astronaut nodding in confirmation before turning to the unaligned pair. “Hey, Tsumugi! We need you, too!”

Shirogane didn’t respond at first, but after a moment, blinked, giving her head a small shake and looking at him, perplexed. “... What?”

“I said-”

Tsumugi shook her head. “No, I heard you. I’m just plainly surprised someone actually picked me…” She said with a hint of surprise. Her eyes drifted over to Kaede, comprehension flashing in her eyes before her expression turned unreadable. For a moment, Akamatsu feared she might reject it outright… but, after a moment, Tsumugi wordlessly nodded and approached.

Kaede offered her a small, welcoming smile. “Hey, Tsumugi…”

“... Hi,” Shirogane eventually answered back, tone uncertain but attempting to mask it with politeness. Her bespectacled gaze flicked between Kaede and Kaito. “... Um, thanks for inviting me.”

“Of course!” Came Kaito’s steadfast reply.

Kaede nodded. “We’re glad to have you here, Tsumugi. I know we’ve got this!”

Shirogane didn’t respond to that, but it was just as well, as the last member of Leon’s team was self-apparent. Almost as if on cue, Chiaki suddenly stirred, blearily glancing around her with a soft ‘huh?’. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she seemed to realize what happened while she was napping. “... Ah. Okay. Guess I’m with you guys.” Chiaki surmised with a small shrug before joining Leon and co, officially completing the two teams of six.

Kaito looked like a kid on Christmas, finally about to unwrap his presents. “Great! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started! C’mon guys!” He gleefully instructed as he took the lead towards what was apparently their half of the field on the far end.

Once both teams were at their respective goals, Kirumi stepped forward from the sidelines with a soccer ball in hand, managing to look surprisingly elegant for someone decked out in bright white and red. “If I may have everyone’s attention, please,” She called out to insure everyone was paying attention before continuing. “As Mister Momota said earlier, I will be refereeing this match. To begin, both teams will be granted sixty seconds to devise their strategy. Once this is done and everyone is in position, the ball will be placed in the center of the field. Once the whistle is blown, the match will officially begin. Understood?”

Kaito flashed the Ultimate Maid a thumbs up. “Got it, Kirumi!”

Leon nodded, crossing his arms. “Same here!”

“Excellent. Your sixty seconds begins… now.”

“Huddle up guys!” Kaito instantly declared, quickly launching into action the second everyone was close enough. “Alright, here’s what I’m thinking! Peko, you’re on goal! Mondo, you and me are gonna push offense!”

Peko nodded once again. “As you wish.”

Mondo grinned. “Hell yeah!”

Kaito mirrored the look before getting back to business. “Great! Now, for you three, that’s kind of about as far ahead as I thought, so I’ll leave your guys’ roles up to you!”

The ex-pianist barely stifled an amused eye roll at that. _ “Half a plan as usual, huh?” _ She thought, smirking to herself. All the same, they didn’t have much time to figure things out even without ribbing on Kaito, so Kaede took the opportunity to glance over her teammates. 

In terms of sheer athleticism, Kaito had definitely gotten the better draw, as Sakura, Peko, and Mondo’s capabilities were beyond question. Kaito himself was far from a slouch either, leaving her and Tsumugi as the weakest links of the bunch. That wasn’t too surprising, if a little disappointing to know she probably wouldn’t be all that useful to her team. Still, getting a sense for that did put an idea in her head, a small hum escaping her. “Hmm… I think I have an idea. The goal’s pretty safe with Peko, so maybe we could get away with being really aggressive. Sakura, you could help the guys push the ball forward while either Tsumugi or I stay towards the middle and the other helps guard the goal.”

Sakura considered it for a moment. “That could work well, though it leaves our defense rather open. Are you sure that won’t be a problem for you, Peko?”

“It will not. With their team, Leon and Gundham will be the only ones I need to be proactive about defending against, which I can do easily. I am certain of that.” The swordswoman replied with absolute confidence. 

“In that case, I can help out with the goal. I could probably stop a few of their kicks, at least,” Tsumugi agreed, sounding a touch hesitant at first but growing into an optimism reflected in her small smile. That simper turned a touch rueful with her next remark. “Plus… I plainly don’t want to get trampled like a fallen wall flower while everyone’s in the middle.”

Akamatsu’s own pleased expression became a little nervous at that. _ “Gee, that’s a great description to hear about the position I just volunteered for...!” _

That minor bit of ominousness aside, their agreement was enough to convince Ogami of the idea. “Very well, then. This seems like the best course of action, so I’d say we take it.”

“Works for me. Only one there that’s got half a chance of stoppin’ me is Gonta, so ‘tween the three of us, they’re fucked.” Mondo backed as well, a sharklike smirk adding to the confidence in his voice.

“Then that’s what we’re doing! Alright, guys; give it everything you’ve got!” Kaito passionately encouraged before breaking the circle. Everyone quickly splintered off to their respective positions, Kaito, Mondo, and Sakura edging towards the front of their pre-game boundary while Tsumugi and Peko ventured towards the goal, leaving Kaede in between them. She nodded to herself in preparation. She’d more or less designed the plan; now was the moment of truth to see whether it’d work.

The moment Pekoyama arrived at her position, Kirumi once again addressed the two teams. “Sixty seconds have passed. Your preparation time is now over. As such, I will now place the ball down. Ten seconds after it touches the field, the whistle will blow, and the game will officially begin. May the best team win, and may everyone enjoy this,” Tojo announced. Without further ado, she placed it squarely in the middle of the field, taking purposeful strides away back to the sidelines with Korekiyo. She crossed the threshold exactly ten seconds later, and just as promised, a sharp whistle split the air. “Begin!”

No sooner had Kaito tapped the ball towards Mondo than Leon and Gundham had charged on top of him, apparently taking up the opposing team’s offense. The redhead managed to give the ball a firm punt away from its intended recipient. Sakura, who had held off from the initial struggle, was quick enough to cut it off with a redirect back towards Mondo. Owada started to push forward, managing to get a few yards past the halfway line before suddenly being confronted by Gundham blocking the ball with his foot and quickly kicking it away from the now-cursing biker. 

Sakura attempted to interrupt the ball again, but was foiled as Leon surged forward and caught it halfway before quickly starting to dribble it across the field. _ “He’s coming my way! Here’s my chance!” _ Kaede realized as she started running towards him. She didn’t have much in the way of an actual plan or strategy, but she knew she had to try to get it away from him somehow. She gunned straight towards Leon with the split-second plan to imitate Gundham’s maneuver on the baseball star, but noticing her approach, Kuwata abruptly killed the ball off to the side, careening past the ex-pianist. Leon swiftly zoomed by half a moment later, reclaiming the ball with ease before she could even start stumbling to change direction. _ “Crap! How can he be so fast?!” _

Akamatsu practically swerved on her heels to pursue him, but he’d already torn down the field in those few seconds, rapidly coming up on a very startled Tsumugi. She didn’t even get the chance to react before Leon drew his foot back and slammed it against the ball with all his might, sending it whizzing past the head of the yelping Shirogane and barreling straight for their goal. Kaede cringed; there was no way she or Tsumugi could possibly block it in time, and with how fast it was going, surely not even Peko could-

The moment it was about to pass through and score, Kaede watched in amazement as Peko lept up and managed to grab the bullet-like ball out of midair with ease, stopped dead in its tracks by the Ultimate Swordswoman. Impressive as that would be on its own, what truly made her marvel was Peko immediately hurdling the ball back towards the center nearly as fast as Leon had kicked it before even landing on her feet. A flash of black and white darted past the still-frazzled Tsumugi before it bounced off the ground and rolled just a few paces in front of Kaede. 

She was frozen for a moment, simply staring at the ball rolling past before she heard the sound of several people yelling simultaneously and her senses kicked in, rushing towards it as fast as she could when she could hear Leon’s racing footsteps coming up on her. She wildly looked around for any indication of what she should do when she actually reached the thing, knowing full well there was no chance she could out-pace an actual athlete, her eyes promptly locking onto Sakura positioned in a relatively straight shot from where she was angling. “Sakura!” She blurted out without thinking, accidentally giving her play away but at least succeeding in capturing the martial artist’s attention as she passed the ball as forcefully as she could.

Despite her back-to-back fumbles, Kaede’s pass actually proved to be successful, as the ball promptly went from shooting off towards Sakura to positively rocketing towards Kaito at the opposing goal. With Leon still scrambling from his failed shot, Gundham similarly being stuck on their end and having to quickly retreat, and the floundering defense of Mikan and Teruteru while Chiaki seemed confused about what was even going on, there was no hope of stopping Ogami’s hurricane-like pass. Of course, this actually proved to be a problem for _ Kaito _ as well, the astronaut nearly being too slow to catch it in time. “Woah! Oka- oh no you don’t!” He roared as the desperately scuttling Ultimate Chef tried to steal it away from him.

“No, I don’t? No, _ you _ don’t! No one puts their balls in anything of mine without express permission! Not dishes, not goals, not ho-” 

Despite (or perhaps _ because _ of) Teruteru’s ranting, Kaito finally managed to line up his shot with the goal, punting the ball from between Hanamura’s legs and sending it hurtling towards the goal. Kaede watched with bated breath, gasping as she thought they managed to make the first goal in an absolutely amazing turnaround… only to be denied as Gonta effortlessly caught it in one hand. _ “Oh, right… probably should have seen that coming. Wait… is his hand bigger than the ball…?!” _

Despite the ease with which he caught the ball, however, Gonta seemed to be slightly at a loss. “Er… sorry, Gonta not remember what do now. Can someone tell?”

“You gotta pass it to a teammate or go for a kick!” Kaito helpfully called out to him.

Gonta beamed happily. “Ah! Gonta understand! Thank you!” He cheerfully replied before looking back to the ball in his hand. “In that case…”

Gonta dropped the ball, reared his leg back, and struck it like the hammer of a gun slamming against a bullet, the ball _ soaring _ across the field. Mikan and Leon (who had only just gotten back from Kaede’s goal) tumbled out of the way with a pair of piercing shrieks while an alarmed ‘holy fuck!’ bellowed from Mondo a couple feet away from the cannonball path this thing was on. Kaede felt her hair blow back from the sheer wind of it as Tsumugi threw herself to the ground, everyone not directly on-course of the ball watching the ordeal in amazement.

Peko, by contrast, was perhaps the only person there that looked completely unphased by display. She narrowed her eyes at the oncoming projectile, and just as it was about to zip right past her and into the goal, her arm swung out and struck it aside in the blink of an eye. It bounced off her arm and into the air before falling back down, bouncing a couple feet before slowly skidding to a stop by Tsumugi’s feet. The cosplayer, as well as everyone else on the field, however, were far too distracted by the dramatic save to consider playing the objective. Even Peko herself was momentarily taken aback, a hint of a grimace coming over her features as she rubbed where the ball collided with her forearm. Kaede wasn’t looking at him, but if she had been, she’d have seen the wide-eyed look of guilty shock on Gonta’s face. Before he could offer any sort of apologies, Peko shook her head, only glancing at Gokuhara for a moment before leveling her gaze on the resident bluenette. “What are you waiting for?”

Kaede stared in unconcealed amazement. _ “... Wait, just like that? I don’t know what’s more shocking; the fact that something actually managed to hurt Peko at all, or the fact that she’s shrugging off Gonta kicking a ball like a cannon!” _

Tsumugi blinked. “Huh…? O-oh… right!” She belatedly said, the gears almost audibly turning in her head before she realized what she was supposed to do and kicked it over to Kaede. Akamatsu just barely came out of her stupor in time to respond to it, managing a messy split-second kick in Mondo’s general direction as both teams collectively got their heads back in the game and resumed vying for control of the ball.

It continued fairly less dramatically for a while. Once the initial adrenaline rush of three close calls with the goals passed, it ended up becoming more of a standard match for a time. The ball would be handed off between either team fairly regularly, whether it was at the mercy of Leon’s speeding dribbles, Mondo and Gundham’s wall-like blocks and redirects in aggressive positions, Kaito’s team skilled passes, or so on. Unexpectedly, once she started to learn how to guess where the ball was going and not shy away from Sakura’s kicks, Mikan turned out to be a pretty solid defender. She’d even managed to get one up on Kaito by interrupting one of his passes and kicking it over to Gundham, much to the astronaut’s dismay and Tanaka’s cackling satisfaction. Opposing teams or not, she couldn’t help but mirror Tsumiki’s proud grin at the sight.

Kaede was happy to say she wasn’t doing too bad herself. As expected, she and Tsumugi weren’t exactly the most exciting players on the field, but she’d managed enough passes and even the odd redirect to feel valuable to the team. Tsumugi’s smile made it clear she felt similarly, the cosplayer even smiling at Kaede once or twice, as short lived as those were. Even if they weren’t getting the chance to actually say much to each other, Kaede liked to think that was a good sign.

Just before halftime, though, things began to heat up again. Kaito, Sakura, and Mondo were making another push for the goal, this time attempting a strategy of bouncing the ball from side to side and occasionally ping-ponging it between one of the men and Sakura to keep Mikan, Teruteru, or Chiaki from being able to predict the passes. Just as they were getting close enough to attempt a shot, however, Gundham managed to catch up and rob the ball from Mondo, knocking it between his feet and quickly dodging past him to start carrying the ball back. “Wh- hey! Get back here, asshole!”

“Try harder, antihero!” Gundham bellowed back as he took off. Owada let out a growl and pursued him, a handful of feet at most between them.

Kaito wasn’t far behind, gunning straight for his rival with gritting teeth. “You’re not gonna get away with this! Get over here!”

Oddly, Gundham didn’t take the opportunity to launch into a monologue duel with Momota. Instead, he silently waited for the biker and the astronaut to practically be right on top of him before he revealed his intentions. “Phoenix!” He shouted out, and with that, shot the ball directly towards the previously unnoticed Ultimate Baseball Star waiting for the pass. Leon promptly caught it and started racing off towards their goal while Gundham took the opportunity to look back and smirk at his gobsmacked sworn enemy. “Cliche as it may be to say, I already have, Luminary.”

Sakura paid the trio no mind, tearing off after Kuwata, but his considerable headstart made that a difficult task even for her. Kaede attempted to cut him off before he could get too far into their territory, charging towards him just in time and even managing to take the ball for a moment, but he angled his foot to knock it back towards him before she could kick it away. Her foot subsequently flew into nothing, throwing off her balance and combining with her momentum to make Kaede tumble over with a startled yelp while her target continued his mad dash onward. “Dang it. Smooth, Kaede…” She grumbled to herself as she forced herself back to her feet and tried to make up for lost time in vain.

Just as before, Tsumugi could hardly even try to start a defense against the invading redhead by the time he flew past her as easily as he had the blonde. With Shirogane basically left helpless, Leon had a nearly unimpeded shot at the goal, but the one object in his path was one that had thus far proven unbeatable. He was rapidly closing in on the goal now, Peko dropping to a defensive stance like a coiling snake as she attempted to predict where he’d shoot. Kaede couldn’t see where he was looking, but Peko’s gaze flicked towards the top left corner for a split second before falling back to Leon, making her read of his intentions clear. A moment later, he drew his left foot back and swung it exactly towards where Peko was anticipating, the swordswoman instantly leaping to catch the ball…

… except he hadn’t kicked the ball where she expected. Right at the last moment, he suddenly twisted his foot around, changing the point of impact from the top of his foot to the instep side and subsequently causing it to spiral off towards the bottom right mid-flight instead. Pekoyama instantly realized her mistake, tossing herself towards the shot the moment her foot touched the ground again, but she was a moment too late. The ball hit the back of the net and was immediately followed by the squeal of the whistle, confirming Leon had scored. “Goal! One point to Mister Kuwata’s team!” Kirumi announced to the sounds of both celebration from Leon’s teammates and Mondo’s distant swearing. The maid checked a pocket watch Kaede wasn’t aware she had, clicking the button and stowing it once more. “And, with that, it is now halftime. Play will resume in five minutes.”

“Hell yeah!” Leon proudly proclaimed, pumping a fist with a mile-wide grin. He quickly seemed to reconsider showing such enthusiasm for a sport, though, rubbing at his head as he tried and failed to suppress his smile. “Er, that wasn’t too bad, I guess.”

“Not too bad? That was awesome, man!” Kaito proclaimed as he finally caught up to the baseball star, drawing a confused look from him. 

“Huh? Wait, why are _ you _ impressed? You know I just scored against you, right?”

Kaito quirked an eyebrow. “So what? Just ‘cause it doesn’t work out great for me doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good play. Skill’s skill, after all!”

Kuwata seemed to consider it for a moment, conflicting emotions flashing on his face before he finally seemed to settle on agreement, his smile returning more naturally than before. “... You know what? Yeah; it was pretty cool, huh?”

Unnoticed amongst the excitement was Peko, staring at the ball in a mix of puzzlement, surprise, and something unreadable. After a few moments, her gaze drifted over to Kuwata, briefly back to the ball, and finally back to the athlete as she bowed her head slightly and began to approach him. She wasn’t the only one; at this point, a small crowd was starting to form with Kaede and Tsumugi joining up with Kaito to talk to the man of the round. She felt a touch disappointed to get scored like that, of course, but she was considerably more impressed by his fakeout, so she was inclined to give some praise of her own. “Nice shot, Leon! I really thought it was going to go where Peko jumped. How’d you manage to change directions like that?”

“I would also like to know, if you’re willing to tell.” Peko added on as she arrived, her lips pressed into a neutral line. She didn’t sound upset despite her expression, however, her voice carrying a curious, almost disappointed quality to it. 

Leon apparently feared she was going to be upset given how he initially flinched at her voice, but seemed to shrug it off a moment later, rubbing at his head. “It’s kinda hard to explain, since I don’t entirely know either. I just kinda tried to do something like throwing a curveball but with my feet and managed to pull that off. Instincts, I guess?”

“You pulled off a Forward Somersault Shot without even leaving the ground? That’s incredible! I plainly wouldn’t know much about real sports, but that technique sounds exactly like something from an anime! Did you learn that move from Tsubasa Ozora himself?” Tsumugi babbled excitedly, earning blank looks from everyone but Peko, who ignored her entirely.

“... I see. That certainly explains part of it…” The swordswoman replied, voice dropping to a mumble at that last part before she gave a small shake of her head and looked him in the eyes. “Skillfully done. It’s not often someone manages to surprise me. As a fair warning, now that I’m aware of your capabilities, I will do everything in my power to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”

“Uh… thanks?” Leon said with an awkward smile. Peko simply nodded in turn.

Kaito laughed a bit, grinning at the pair and setting a hand on his hip. “She’s right; that was pretty cool, but we aren’t through yet! My sidekicks always learn from their mistakes! You aren’t gonna be able to pull another fast one on us without a fight. Keep fighting like hell! It’ll make it more fun when we double your score!”

“Oh yeah?! We’ll see about that! Let’s see who’s talking big at the end of this!” Leon called back challengingly, a confident determination to beat the astronaut leaking into his voice. 

That seemed to be just what Kaito was looking for if his grin was anything to go by. “That’s the spirit! Keep that up and maybe you’ll _ almost _ get one up on us again!”

Kaede giggled at their banter, ever amazed by Kaito’s ability to annoy people into doing their best. It seemed Kaito had finally found the right approach to get past Leon’s shell without getting under his skin too much, a promising sign for the wannabe rockstar. A bit of movement in the corner of her eye brought her attention to Tsumugi quietly slipping away, making the ex-pianist purse her lips as she debated what the right course of action would be. She didn’t want to push things too much too fast. But, at the same time... 

_ “... If Kaito’s managing to get through to Leon despite everything, maybe I should take a page from his book. A lighter touch would probably be a good idea, but maybe trying consistently would help smooth things over,” _ Akamatsu reasoned, collecting her nerves despite the embers of hesitance she’d been feeling around Tsumugi since the morning prior and following after her. Once they were far enough away that she doubted anyone would overhear, she called out to the otaku. “Hey, Tsumugi?”

Shirogane froze in place, not turning to face Kaede for a few moments. When she finally did, her discomfort was apparent, her eyebrows pinched in slight worry even as she reluctantly returned the greeting. “Ah… hi, Kaede. Is there something you need, or…?”

“No, nothing like that. I… just wanted to check in with you, really,” She replied somewhat lamely as her burst of confidence began to subside in the face of the awkwardness between them. Still, she tried her best to push through it anyways, managing a small smile for the other girl. “So… having a good time?”

“Um… yeah, I think I’d say so. I usually find real sports kinda boring, but when it’s a bunch of Ultimates playing, it’s almost like something out of a manga, you know?” Tsumugi replied, unsurely at first but becoming a touch more genuine as she went on.

A smirk tugged Akamatsu’s lips up a bit more. “Heh, yeah. Pretty sure Gonta would’ve broken the sound barrier if he kicked it any harder!” She quipped. 

The bluenette actually looked pleased at that, smiling as she rolled with the bit. “True, but with how fast she is, Peko might’ve been able to block it even if he did. I’m starting to think she might actually be some sort of atomic samurai!”

A pleasant laugh escaped Kaede. Idle as it was, this chatter was the longest she and Tsumugi had spoken since the trial, and in a way that was even almost casual. It felt nice to be able to be near her without feeling guilt and hesitation wrapping around her throat. Her expression shifted to something a bit more somber after a moment as she let the light opener transition towards the conversation they needed to have. “Yeah… I’m glad you’re having fun, Tsumugi. And… thanks for coming, despite everything.”

“Ah… yeah…” Shirogane replied guardedly. She opened her mouth as if she meant to say more, but slowly closed it instead, leaving them in silence instead. Kaede had to fight the urge to sigh as the seconds ticked by. Much to her dismay, the cosplayer’s walls had quickly risen back up at the reminder of their tension, leaving them back at square one. Tsumugi shifted awkwardly in place, failing to meet Kaede’s eyes for more than a few moments and starting to slowly wring her hands. The musician was starting to become certain she’d have to be the one to speak up first, but after a few more moments, Shirogane asked an important question. “... Why are you doing all this, Kaede?”

It was disheartening to have her efforts seen through, but Kaede wasn’t willing to lie to her again. Trust couldn’t be built by trying to hide things, after all. “... I know you don’t trust me anymore. Or really like me that much, either. Both of those are totally fair, and I don’t blame you at all for feeling like that. But… I don’t want things to stay like that. I want to try to make up for it, if I can. If we can be friends again, then I want to do everything I can to make that happen. I really think it can happen if we-”

“Please stop.”

Akamatsu’s speech came to a grinding halt, her building momentum derailed in an instant by those two words. Her confidence vanished, replaced by surprise and confusion. “Huh?”

“Please, don’t do this,” Tsumugi glumly repeated, finally looking Kaede in the eyes with a tired and pleading glint in hers. “I know you’re trying to be nice, but… I’m not okay with it yet. It’s not easy to forget something like that, Kaede. It would be great if we could fix things, but… it might sound a bit mean, but… honestly? I’m plainly not ready to trust you, and I don’t know when I will be. So… please don’t say things like that.”

The rejection was like a punch in the gut. Whatever progress she was making with Tsumugi now hard a firm block in front of it, one that she had no way of getting around without risking her chances of it ever willingly being removed. She could only stand there for a moment, stunned, before she slowly closed her dropped jaw. “O-oh… I… understand. I’m sorry.” Kaede apologized, unable to fully hide her wince.

“Thank you,” Tsumugi said plainly. She was avoiding Kaede’s eyes again, her confidence seeming to have dissipated now that her point was made. A beat passed without a word from either girl, raising the uncomfortableness of it all considerably. “... Um, was there anything else?”

“... No, that’s it. You can go now if you want.” The maestro offered reluctantly. It’s certainly not what she _ wanted _ to happen, but with how bluntly Tsumugi refused her, there was no benefit to either of them from saying in this conversation. As stubborn as she normally was, Kaede was aware enough to stop while she was already behind lest she make things worse for herself. She didn’t object as Tsumugi made a soft noise and mumbled something that might have been a farewell before walking off a little faster than before, only sighing to herself in disappointment. _ “Well… that went pretty terribly,” _ She mused sourly as she crossed her arms. _ “Damn it. I guess I shouldn’t have expected it to be that easy, but… no, there’s no point dwelling on it. If she forgives me, great. If she doesn’t…” _ She mentally trailed off, glancing up from her feet to try to find Shirogane. However, instead of the cosplayer, she noticed someone staring at her from afar, her eyes widening a touch.

“Korekiyo…?” Kaede murmured under her breath. He seemed to notice she’d become aware of him as his gaze shifted towards Kaito having a rather boisterous conversation with Mondo a little ways away, her lips thinning in turn. Part of her wanted to confront the anthropologist over it -talent or not, watching people without asking is creepy- but she found herself reluctant to actually do so. She’d already bungled one confrontation; there was no reason to earn anymore ill will.

Before any more negative thoughts could start to pile up, however, an excited voice called out to her from behind. “K-Kaede!”

The blonde looked over her shoulder to find the Ultimate Nurse rushing up to her with a broad smile. She gave a small mirror of the expression with a small wave. “Oh, hey Mikan. What’s up?”

“You were right!” Tsumiki happily exclaimed, looking downright giddy compared to her usual fretful body language. “I r-really thought I would mess things up, but this is a lot of fun! I think I’m even getting to be helpful!”

Kaede smiled supportingly, happy for both the nurse and the chance to move her thoughts onto something nicer. “Awesome! You’ve definitely been keeping us on our toes, so I’d say so, too. I knew you could do it.”

Mikan lit up even further in clear delight. She looked like there was more she wanted to say, but the piercing wail of the whistle cut her off before she had the opportunity. “Halftime is now over. Please reconvene with your team, and remember that the goals have been swapped.” Kirumi announced, bringing the mid-game festivities to an end.

“O-oh. I th-thought there’d be a little more time, but, u-um… thank you again, a-and good luck!” The nurse wished as encouragingly as she could.

“You too! See you on the field!” Akamatsu replied, the shy girl quickly running off with one last ‘thank you’ as Kaede started towards her own end of the field, spirits considerably higher than they had been before the brief exchange.

At the very least, it was nice to know she was able to help _ someone _.

The match restarted shortly afterwards, though it lacked anything as dramatic as the first opening minutes. Kaito had learned from last time and made the initial pass to Sakura, who baited Gundham and Leon into charging towards her only to quickly shoot it off to Mondo, the biker quickly going on the offensive. His efforts were inevitably foiled by Gonta, however, soon returning the match to the usual game of keep-away that much of it had been.

It was about ten minutes into the second half that something important happened. Through their usual back-and-forth, Kaito ended up losing the ball to Gundham, though unlike his prior attempts, Leon wasn’t in position to carry it to the goal for once. Instead, the Dark Lord was taking it upon himself to rush headlong into enemy territory with Sakura and Kaito hot on his tail. He’d likely be giving a long-winded boast if it were possible to do that and have enough air to keep running at the same time, so he opted for the more productive option of the two. 

Perhaps he was planning his speech out in his head, however, as he didn’t notice Mondo charging in from the side to intercept him. Apparently not wanting to take his chances dealing with Gundham’s considerable blocking game after already losing to it more than once, Mondo opted to try to sweep the ball out from under him by going for a slide maneuver. Mondo’s snarling declaration of, “Gotcha, ya sonuvabitch!” served as the only warning before Owada came sliding in. He managed to catch Tanaka unawares enough that he managed to knock the ball out of his carry and off towards an unoccupied section of the field far off from the goal. It was a massive success… for the split-second before Gundham’s foot came down where he expected the ball to be and instead slammed into Mondo’s ankle. “_ FUCK! _”

“Wha- urgh!” Gundham choked out in surprise before his unstable footing and Mondo’s continuing momentum sent him tumbling forward, landing on the ground face first. 

Unsurprisingly, Kirumi promptly blew the whistle. “Foul! Everyone stay where you are except Miss Tsumiki!” She announced as she quickly stepped onto the field. Mikan managed to beat her to the scene, however, fretting over the two possibly injured men with rapid fire questions.

“O-oh no! A-are either of you injured?! D-does anything hurt?! Do you need medicine?! Do-”

Gundham stood up with a grunt, crossing his arms. “Bah! As if any mere mortal could harm Gundham Tanaka! Despite his best efforts, I remain unphased!”

“Despite _ my _ efforts?! You tripped yourself, dumbass!” Mondo shot back with a glare, sneering up at Gundham as he tried to stand up. “Not my fault you-” He tried to stand up on his left foot only to suddenly let out a hiss and falter. “ _ Shit!” _

Mikan quickly turned her full focus to the outlaw, scrutinizing eyes pouring over him quickly before widening with a gasp. “M-Mondo! Your ankle!”

It was hard to see from where Kaede was standing, but something about his foot definitely looked off. It seemed to be at a bit of an odd angle, something that only became more apparent when he tried to stand again. “I’m _ fine _. Prolly won’t even bruise.” Mondo insisted despite gritting his teeth with a faint wince when he put pressure on the foot again.

Mikan wouldn’t hear it, though, quickly throwing her hands out to stop his advance. “N-no! It’s clearly sprained! P-please don’t stand up; it won’t heal properly if you keep exerting yourself!”

Mondo curled his lip. “I said it’s fine. What kinda pussy’d go out over somethin’ like that? I’d get these all the time as a kid and keep goin’.”

That was evidently the wrong thing to say as Mikan’s eyes bugged out in horror. “Th-that’s not good for you! Putting pressure on damaged ligaments can cause arthritis or lead to hurting it more! A-and if this isn’t even the first time you’re doing this, then…!” Tsumiki’s eyes started to pool with tears from how distressed the idea left her, leaving Mondo staring in bewilderment.

“H-hey, don’t cry over it! It’s just a little sprain; I’ll walk it off in a week. Nothing to worry about!” He tried to reassure, accidentally worsening the poor nurse’s clear worry as a shrill noise escaped her and she rapidly shook her head. “Wh- it’s not- stop-” He sputtered out, holding up a hand to soothe her. After a moment, though, he fell silent, a look of consideration playing across his face. “... Fine. ‘M not gonna move it. Promise.” He reluctantly agreed with a long, shuddering sigh, looking down with an almost embarrassed expression.

Mikan’s tears abruptly stopped. “R-really?”

“I promised, didn’t I?” Mondo groused as he laid back on the field.

Tsumiki’s worry subsided slightly, now merely looking concerned rather than on the verge of panic. “Th-thank you. I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but it really is important.”

“... As stated, even this meager human frame is still impervious to damage, so no such concern is needed for me. Such pity would only aggravate me…” Gundham sulked, suddenly seeming disappointed in the lack of attention. 

It was around that point Kirumi arrived at the peculiar trio, bowing her head. “It is fortunate to hear you are uninjured, Mister Tanaka. Miss Tsumiki, I presume you would like to attend to Mister Owada personally?”

Mikan tapped her fingers uneasily. “Um, if it wouldn’t be too much of a p-problem, then yes. I h-hope I’m not disappointing anyone by leaving early, b-but my patients have to take top priority.”

Kirumi simply nodded. “I understand, and please, do not worry. Mister Shinguji told me he would be willing to participate should anyone need a break or the like, and I can take on a position in the other team as well to maintain balance. Packages of ice are available in the cooler,” The maid informed before turning her gaze to the downed gangster. “I will return with a cot to move you shortly, Mister Owada.”

Mondo did _ not _ look happy with that. “A cot? Oh, come on. I fucked up my ankle a little; it ain’t like I lost a leg,” He complained stubbornly, his eyes drifting to Mikan. “Look, can I at least walk off the field if I keep off my bad foot?”

“Um… in theory, that should be okay if someone was helping you. I-if you don’t m-mind, I could do it.” Tsumiki offered.

“Wh- I can’t do that! A man shouldn’t expect a chick to carry him around!” He snapped out flusteredly. 

Mikan quickly eeped out an apology, much to Mondo’s instant regret and chagrin, but Kirumi quickly intervened before things would get too out of hand. “There is a simple solution to this. Mister Tanaka, as Mister Owada’s move was legal, this is your foul. As it was clearly an accident, however, I’ll forgo the yellow card and settle for a penalty kick if you assist in transporting him. Is this agreeable?”

Gundham’s eyes widened in dismay. “My foul?! Twas he who flung himself towards the Overlord of Ice, heedless of the disastrous consequences it would bring! The very gall to insinuate this is somehow _ my _ folly-”

Mondo let out a groan. “Oh, for fucks sake. Look, either help me up or take the foul; I don’t give a shit. Just shut up already.”

Gundham’s mismatched eyes glowered down at the biker, flickering up to Kirumi’s even gaze as his lips thinned before he finally let out a relenting scoff, “Fine then. I shall show mercy for now. Rise, oh Spirit of Enkidu! The sooner this lowly ritual is complete, the sooner my victory may be complete!”

“What the hell ever, man…” Mondo scoffed under his breath even as he took Gundham’s offered arm and pulled himself to his feet with a grunt. With that, Gundham begrudgingly helped an equally reluctant Mondo off the field with Mikan trailing close behind. Kaede was sad to see him go, but between that or letting him hurt himself further, she’d definitely take the former. Kaito likely felt similarly if the disappointed but accepting frown on his face was anything to go by.

To make a long but unimportant story short, once Mondo was safely escorted off the field and was being attended to by Mikan, Kirumi and Korekiyo flipped a coin to determine who ended up on which team. Korekiyo ended up on Leon’s, leaving Kirumi to join the current underdogs. Tsumiki and Owada were designated the impromptu referees given that they wouldn’t be able to do much but watch the match anyways, and thus the game resumed some minutes later with a less-than-confident blow of the whistle from Mikan.

As Gundham had committed the foul, however unintentionally, Kaito’s team got to take a penalty shot. Kaito nearly managed to get it past Gonta, the entomologist’s foot _ just _ managing to knock it off course, but Leon’s team wasn’t able to force them back as quickly as they previously could. Despite lacking Mondo’s raw physical power, Kirumi’s surprising speed and careful footing proved to more than make up for that, managing to consistently keep control of the ball despite Gundham’s best efforts. She was ultimately the one that finally managed to get a shot past Gonta, in fact; with some impromptu strategizing with Kaito, she managed to pass the ball to him for a shot, which was summarily knocked back by Gokuhara, but the maid surprised him by surging forth before Leon could and shot it towards the opposite side of the goal. “G-goal! Congratulations! B-but also sorry!” Mikan cried out, though her already meek voice was drowned out by Kaito, Mondo, Tsumugi, and Kaede’s celebratory cheers and Leon and Gundham’s growls of dismay. 

“Yeah! Go Kirumi!” Kaede happily called out. She knew Kirumi probably couldn’t hear her clearly from that distance, but that was beside the point.

“Nice shot, Kirumi! Really pulled through!” Kaito encouraged with a mile-wide grin.

“Yes! Very impressive! Gonta really surprised by that!” Gokuhara said sportingly.

Kirumi simply bowed her head, a small smile coming to her lips. “Thank you, but I’m simply performing the task I was given. It’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Gundham’s momentary frustration had faded away at this point, curiosity taking its place. “Perhaps so, but that doesn’t explain how a relatively low-level cleric such as yourself could so deftly counter my attacks. This is your first time on this sort of field of battle, is it not?”

“It is not, actually. I once worked for a man that owned a professional soccer team. He lamented that his team was too undisciplined to work together, so I took it upon myself to learn the rules of the sport and personally trained them. You might say I became somewhat proficient at it in that time.” Tojo corrected, much to the surprise of everyone listening.

“Wait, are we seriously playing against the Ultimate Soccer Player?!” Leon suddenly butted in, breaking the silence he’d been stuck in since she scored.

It was faint even to her sensitive ears, but Kaede could have sworn she heard the slightest laugh in Kirumi’s response. “Certainly not. Officially, I am only the Ultimate Maid.”

“And unofficially?” Kuwata pressed with a dubious look.

“... It’s not proper for a maid to flatter herself. Soccer is certainly something I’ve come to enjoy, however.” Was all Kirumi said in turn.

_ “Wh- seriously? Just how many talents does Kirumi actually have?!” _ Kaede thought to herself in amazement. She wouldn’t have long to ponder that, however, as the whistle blew and Mondo reminded them to ‘stop fucking around and get ready’, sending the teens back into the swing of things after a minute or two.

The game resumed, but despite a few close calls for both teams, ultimately ran out of time on a draw. “Um, t-time! We’re out of time! So, um, it’s a tie!” Mikan called out to the dismay of the more competitive students.

“What?! Aw, no way! We can’t end it on something like that!” Kaito whined disappointedly.

Leon backed him up, seeming to forget he was supposed to pretend he hated sports. “Yeah! Ties are lame; you gotta go all or nothing!”

“Agreed! The Tanaka Empire knows no such thing as a draw; there is victory, or utter damnation! Nothing short of either will satisfy!” Gundham bellowed.

Sakura let out a hum, crossing her arms. “Though I know that desire to come out victorious well, sometimes, a stalemate is unavoidable. Our teams are evenly matched. A decisive winner isn’t likely to happen soon at this rate.”

“It’d plainly be a little underwhelming to end on a draw, though. If this were a manga, it’d feel like a big copout to have two powerful teams fight without anyone winning…” Tsumugi noted with a small tilt of her head.

Kaede crossed her arms in thought. She was inclined to agree, her natural sense of competition enticing her to keep pushing for success, but also agreeing with Sakura’s assessment.“Hmm… well, maybe there’s something we could do to break the tie?”

“A tiebreaker… keheheh. What an intriguing suggestion. Even when perfectly matched, our inner humanity compels us to find a better through one means or another. Such determination is wonderful…!” Korekiyo mused aloud, drawing a few odd looks but otherwise going ignored.

It wasn’t surprising that Kirumi had the answer. “Actually, there is. I know exactly what can be done to determine a winner.”

“... What is it?” Chiaki asked?

A hint of excitement flashed in the Ultimate Maid’s eye. “A **penalty shootout**.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations to everyone who figured out Tsumugi's murder! You're prophets!
> 
> Did we fake you out with that build up to the body discovery that never was? I hope we did; building suspense is harder than you'd think. On that same hand, Leon and Mikan scenes! Yay! These two are very fun to write.
> 
> Soccer! :D
> 
> Sorry to end it on a cliff hanger, but don't worry; we'll get our winners soon! Until then, hope you enjoyed, and see you next time!
> 
> -MrCynical


	25. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The soccer match has a stunning conclusion and Kaede's investigation of the park begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy, we made it on time! Cut it a little close with this one, but all the same. Just as something to note, in addition to midterms, I'm starting a new class next week, so that may impact production. We'll try our best to keep the current pace, but just something to be aware of.
> 
> In the meantime, let's wrap up this soccer match!
> 
> -MrCynical

“Oh, right! We can totally do that! Good thinking, Kirumi!” Kaito exclaimed with a grin, snapping his fingers when the realization struck him.

Gundham smirked, apparently pleased. “Keheheh. Of course; I should have realized sooner that this battle is not over yet until the duel of spells has occurred. This outcome is most agreeable.”

Those less familiar with the sport didn’t share his enthusiasm, giving the three of them with curious and questioning looks. “Uh… that sounds about normal for Gundham, but what exactly do you mean, Kirumi? It kind of sounds like some wild west game when you just say that…” Kaede joked lightly.

Korekiyo gave a small hum. “In a certain sense, it does mimic the sorts of shootouts the romanticized view of the American Frontier is known for. But, I will allow Kirumi to explain, given her knowledge is likely of a deeper level than my own.”

“Thank you, Mister Shinguji,” Kirumi said as she took control of the conversation. “A penalty shoot-out is a practice in soccer in which both teams take turns making five penalty kicks each at the goal in the event of a draw. Five players from each team are allowed one opportunity to score unless it becomes impossible for one team to match or exceed the other’s points. The shooting team and goalie alternates each turn. Whichever team scores more kicks during this period gains a point and wins, though if they’re still tied by the end of the shoot-out, the goalies may take shots during the following rounds of sudden death until one scores successfully. Doing this, there is an equal opportunity to break the tie.”

Sakura crossed her arms. “I see. That seems simple enough in theory.”

The Ultimate Enomologist scratched at his head. “Um, sorry if this bad question, but if there tie because Peko and Gonta good at blocking, wouldn’t we end up stuck again?”

Chaiki idly tapped at her chin. “I don’t think so. Some of the trouble was just getting the ball up there in the first place. The others were usually pretty busy trying to stop everyone else, so the goalie had a lot of time to prepare. Without that, you just need to make them slip up on one of the kicks. That might be easier without anyone else trying to stop you… I think.”

Peko nodded in agreement. “That would leave it down to a test of skill between the kicker and goalie rather than either simply getting an unlucky angle. Considering that, this would be the fairest way to determine a victor.”

That explanation satisfied Gokuhara. “Ah, Gonta see! Then Gonta happy to do it!”

“Yeah, it sounds pretty fun!” Kaede called out enthusiastically. 

A brief din of assent played across the field at the other students gave their backing. Mondo apparently gave his two cents as well, as a few moments later, Mikan made an announcement. “Um, s-since everyone seems to be okay with it, we’ll do it! K-Kaito’s team scored the last goal, s-so I think that means Leon’s gets to go first?” She said unsurely.

“Sure, sounds fair to me. I live for a challenge, so give it your best shot, guys!” Kaito encouraged, pumping a fist with a grin.

With the opposing team captain’s permission, Tsumiki found the resolve to start the challenge. “O-oh! Great! I-in that case, we’ll do it! Everyone…” She started confidently, but wilted as she seemed to blank on what that actually entailed. “... I-I’m sorry, I don’t really know how one of these is supposed to start. C-could someone else explain it?”

“Relax; I’ll handle it,” Mondo gave a small grunt as he pushed himself up to better address everyone on the field. “Alright, listen up! Everyone but Peko, line up at the little half-circle in front of the goal, and if it ain’t your turn to kick, stay there! If it is, go to the dot in the middle of the box. That’s where you’ll be kicking from. Everyone got that?” He gruffly explained. A wave of nods and confirming noises answered back. “Good. Then what are ya waitin’ for? Let’s see some action!”

_ “I’m pretty sure ‘little half-circle’ and ‘dot’ aren’t real terms for those things, but it works for me. Thanks for keeping things simple, Mondo...” _ Kaede smiled to herself as the group headed his instructions and began making their way towards the penalty arc outside her goal. Despite being one of the closer people to it on the field, she intentionally walked slowly enough for a few people to at least be at the same point as her to avoid awkwardly having to stand with Tsumugi in silence waiting for everyone else, mercifully ending up with Sakura and Kaito as buffers between her and the cosplayer. She glanced over the penalty box to locate the ‘dot’ Mondo was referring to. 

Sure enough, it stood directly across from the ever-stoic Peko, who seemed to be doing her own analysis from how those sharp red eyes of hers were flicking over each member of Leon’s team and occasionally at the goal around her. Given how Peko had basically been defending the goal single-handedly for most of the match anyway, Kaede was certain they were in safe hands for this, too. Gonta’s primary advantage was his sheer size, but Peko’s reflexes and speed seemed to be nigh-impossible to overcome. Leon already proved to be the lone exception to that, but she knew enough about Peko to trust that it would be the only time the Ultimate Baseball Star took her by surprise.

It didn’t take more than about a minute for everyone to get into position, Mikan reluctantly stepping away from Mondo long enough to set the ball in position. “U-um, okay. Once the whistle blows, you can go ahead and take your shot. G-good luck everyone!” The nurse shyly wished with an uneasy grin before setting the ball on the point and quickly scampering off to the others.

After a brief discussion amongst Leon’s team, they seemed to decide which among them would go first. Surprisingly, it was Chiaki that meandered up first. Kaede wasn’t entirely sure if her slow steps were out of taking time to plan what she would do or simply another expression of the gamer’s slothish demeanor, but either way, all eyes were on her once Nanami leisurely arrived at the plate. A long moment passed in silence, both teams waiting with baited breath for her to make the shot until she finally pulled her foot back and kicked it with all her might…

Kaede watched in a sort of dull surprise as it lamely arced through the air in a straight line towards Peko, who effortlessly held up her arms and caught it to keep it from hitting her in the chest. The swordswoman glanced down at the ball and back up towards Chiaki flatly. Nanami blinked, turning her head a little. “... Huh. Oh well.” She murmured, and with that, wandered back to her bewildered team.

_ “Er… she knows she has to get the ball _ ** _past_ ** _ Peko, right?” _ Kaede thought, rubbing at her head awkwardly at the sight. 

Unphased by the gamer’s ingenious strategy of literally kicking it into the goalie’s hands, Peko simply went to reconvene with her team while Gonta simultaneously went up to replace her at the goal. “Good job, Peko!” He encouraged with a warm smile as she knelt over for a moment to put the ball on the mound.

Peko paused, looking up at him discerningly only to find no trace of whatever it was she expected to find. “... Thank you,” Came her somewhat stiff reply, giving him an acknowledging bow of the head before wordlessly falling into line next to Shirogane. Her sharp red eyes flicked over the rest of the team with a hint of curiosity. “... So, who intends to try their might against him first?”

Before any sort of discussion of tactics or the like could begin, Kaito bravely volunteered himself for the task. “Well, me, of course! A hero’s gotta lead the way for his sidekicks! Watch and learn, guys!” He declared before strutting over to the ball. His approach was considerably quicker than Chiaki’s even despite taking a few seconds to look over the goal and find where he wanted to aim. After a moment or two, he launched the ball off towards the right with considerable speed. It didn’t do much good against the Ultimate Entomologist however, the goliath quickly dashing to the side and easily catching it in his hand. Kaito stared in surprise for a moment before shaking it away with a small shrug as he put a hand on his hip. “Er… good catch, Gonta…” He muttered almost embarrassedly, glancing back in annoyance at a smugly smirking Gundham.

Gonta, either noticing Kaito’s dismay or simply out of his polite nature, decided to return the praise. “Thank you, but Gonta just lucky that time. Your kick good. Gonta sure it happen next time!” He reassured. Akamatsu didn’t think such modesty was fitting even if Gokuhara almost certainly meant it, but she wasn’t about to trample over his efforts to cheer up Kaito.

Momota quickly seemed to get his mojo back at that, his lips quirking up as he flashed him a thumbs up. “That was more than luck… but you’re right! Just gotta keep at it!” He heartily agreed before turning to return to his team with his head held high despite the miss. His confident look grew wider as he passed his goalie on her way to the net. “Give ‘em hell for me, Peko!”

Pekoyama merely nodded in response, but that was all he needed to continue his confident stride. His expression hardly faltered even when Gundham mockingly commented, “Watch and learn indeed, Luminary. Such ‘leadership’ demonstrates exactly why it is I who shall stand victorious at the end of our rivalry!”

Kaede frowned at the breeder disapprovingly. “That’s not very sporting, Gundham.”

Kaito, however, waved it off. “Nah, let him talk. It’ll make it better when I show him just what me and my sidekicks can do!”

Gundham laughed sneeringly. “It is a futile effort! No matter how legendary a hero or his squires are, they are still but mortals fighting a demon beyond compare! The Dark Overlord of Ice shall-”

“Oh for the love of- dude, shut the hell up and kick already!” Leon snapped, his face taking on a shade of his hair as he glared at the breeder in absolute annoyance. 

Tanaka paused mid-monologue, turning to glare back at the other teen only to find everyone on his team giving him similar looks, even if no one else was quite as put off as Kuwata and Mikan couldn’t bring herself to look directly at Gundham. Whatever rebuke he had died on his tongue as he slowly closed his mouth and crossed his arms. “Hmph. Fine then. The verbal component of my spell has already been satisfied anyway. Allow me to go ensure our triumph.”

Storming forth like a force of nature, Gundham walked up to the ball and tilted his head back to address the swordswoman. “Peko Pekoyama! Prepare yourself, for you are about to face the overwhelming might of a fully-prepared Reihado Kick! Have at thee!” He boomed with a dramatic point towards her before striking the ball. His shot wasn’t as fancy as Leon’s stunning goal, but it was nearly as effective, the ball zooming towards the right hand corner of the next like a bullet. Fortunately, Peko proved to be faster than a bullet as she went from standing in the middle of the goal to launching Gundham’s ball off the field with an incredible slide in the blink of an eye, denying the Ultimate Breeder his much-promised goal.

“Ha! What was that about standing victorious again?” Kaito jeered mockingly, tanking Kaede’s scolding swat to the shoulder and stern look.

“Silence, knave!” Gundham demanded, glowering at his rival even as he lamely wandered back towards the others, pointedly ignoring Leon’s flat glare in particular. His efforts drew a small chuckle from Momota, but his warning was otherwise heeded as Kaito turned his focus back to his team instead.

The next several kicks weren’t much to speak of. Tsumugi went next, followed by Korekiyo, Kaede herself, and Teruteru, all of whom predictably weren’t able to stand a chance against their rivals’ borderline unstoppable goalkeepers. Kaede certainly wasn’t surprised when the gentle giant blocked her shot with ease, even if she did take a little pride in managing to get some decent height in her kick. She couldn’t help but start to wonder if they’d actually be able to break the tie this way, however. Leon was the only one besides Gonta on his team that hadn’t gone yet, so unless one or both managed to score and everyone left on her team missed, they’d still be stuck at a tie. A draw definitely wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it would be a little anticlimactic to end up with no clear winner.

Fortunately, that’s what made the next kicks more interesting to watch. Kirumi was the next to try her skill against Gonta, gracefully stepping up to the mound as Teruteru seemed to whisper some remark Kaede didn’t bother to hear and taking a moment to examine the goal. Kaede couldn’t tell where exactly the maid was looking from where she was standing, but she wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. Kirumi took her shot, and at first, Kaede assumed it had somehow gone wide as it veered not only away from Gonta but seemingly from the net itself, but found her jaw dropping as the ball caught the edge of the goalpost and bounced back _ towards _ Gokuhara. He swiveled on his feet to face it and instinctively slapped it away back towards Kirumi, spiking the ball off the ground and making it bounce off the field.

“Woah! What the hell was that?!” Leon piped up in alarm, wide-eyed.

“Sorry! Gonta not mean to hit it so hard; Gonta just get surprised!” He frantically apologized, looking embarrassed of his unintentional show of strength.

Leon shook his head. “No- I mean, that was freaky too, but-” He turned to the maid, absolutely puzzled. “Did you mean to do that bouncing trick?”

Kirumi bowed her head as she turned to look at him. “Yes. I was trying to replicate a decisive goal from one of the matches I studied, though it seems Mister Gokuhara has quicker reflexes than that goalie,” She explained before a touch of concern flicked in her features and she turned back to Gonta. “Even so, I apologize for startling you, Mister Gokuhara. I hope you are unharmed.”

“Gonta fine, and it okay. Er… Gonta should probably go get ball, though…” He sheepishly murmured, rubbing at his long locks with a slight grimace.

Mikan quickly went on alert. “S-sorry! Th-that’s my job! I sh-should have done it earlier, but… I-I’ll go get it real quick! Sorry!” Tsumiki frantically apologized as she scampered off towards the lonesome ball, leaving a very confused Gonta in her wake.

“Um… thank you?”

Once the ball was back in position (with yet another round of apologies from the neurotic nurse), there was only one main member of Team Rockstar left to go. “Guess it’s up to me, huh? Alright...” Leon mused aloud with a slightly nervous smirk as he stepped up to the plate. The athlete seemed to size Peko up on the way similarly to the more skillful players that had gone before, but there was something about the way he carried himself that made it seem different somehow. Kaede chalked it up to his experience at reading batters, and given his previous comparison to baseball, it wouldn’t surprise her if he was attempting the same tactics now. Once he found whatever he was looking for, he took his shot.

Just as before, Leon’s kick was rather deceptive, initially seeming like it was going to be a straight if incredibly high shot over Peko’s head. Despite that, however, the spin of the ball made it begin to swerve off to the left instead. What was considerably different about this shot compared to his first was Peko’s reaction. Rather than leaping for the shot when it was halfway to the net as she had the first time, the warrior paused to anticipate the curve, her patience paying off when it did indeed begin to veer off its trajectory just a handful of yards away from the goal. Shooting into the air like a rising phoenix, Peko intercepted the ball with a solid catch, saving the point with a burst of cheers from her team.

“Woo! That was awesome, Peko!” Kaede gushed in amazement, grinning ear to ear. Kaito looked absolutely over the moon as he said something to a similar effect while Tsumugi gave a small cheer as well. Kirumi and Sakura were more restrained, but gave small shows of their gratitude, smiling faintly at the impressive catch.

Perhaps the person most surprised, however, was Leon himself, greyish-blue eyes wide in incomprehension. “... Huh? You actually caught that?”

“As I said: I don’t intend to be caught off guard again.” Peko said simply as she walked back to the gathering of players and casually placed the ball in front of Leon’s foot. He stood there for a second, seemingly frozen before shaking his head and rubbing at his hair on the way back. Peko humbly bowed her head slightly at the hero’s welcome she received from her teammates, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on that before the final member of the main team had to go up. 

Sakura was probably the only person on the field that came close to matching Gonta in size and strength, yet even the Ultimate Martial Artist looked small compared to the goliath between her and the goal. _ “Then again, she’s probably trained to figure out how to beat guys bigger than her… even if it’s kind of hard to picture very many people like that. Maybe she’ll be able to finally get one past him…” _ Kaede thought to herself, watching Ogami curiously.

When Sakura took her shot, it was over before Kaede even realized what happened. The warrior had moved with an almost inhuman speed, launching the ball at roughly the same speed Gonta himself had kicked it at the start of the match and sending it zooming towards the net above his head. She couldn’t begin to imagine how he could have reacted in the split-second it took for the ball to reach him, but the entomologist had somehow managed to throw his hands up in time to cradle it in his massive palms, the cringe-inducing ** _thwunk_ ** of leather hitting flesh reverberating across the field like a gunshot. Even with his near-unrivaled strength, it was impossible to miss how he physically had to take a step back to balance himself upon catching the ball, wide, red eyes staring down at it in absolute shock.

“W-woah…” Kaito gasped under his breath, the equally surprised murmurings of his peers making it clear he spoke for everyone.

In stark contrast, Sakura’s reaction was little more than a small hum and nod. “Impressive. Your reflexes are even better honed than I’d thought.”

A slightly embarrassed grin overtook Gonta’s features as he lowered his hands, loosely gripping the ball in one. “Thank you, but Gonta really not think it that impressive. It just come to Gonta sometimes. Gonta really just catch ball; anyone able to do that, really…” He humbly declined.

“You underestimate yourself as well… but that is beside the point. Acknowledge it as skillful or not, you’ve successfully defended your goal well enough that we should now be in sudden death. That will make the results of this match a true challenge.” Ogami noted sagely.

That seemed to remind Mikan of her role as she quickly spoke up to elaborate. “O-oh, right! Um, o-okay everyone! Since the score is still tied, the goalies get a turn. I-if neither of them score, then players start cycling back until someone scores and the next person misses… um, r-right, Kirumi?”

Tojo nodded confirmingly. “Yes; you explained it perfectly.”

The nurse brightened up at the confidence booster, managing to smile despite her clear discomfort being the center of attention. “Oh… good! Th-then we can go ahead! S-since Sakura just went, that means Gonta can go first.”

“Pull it off, big dude! We need this!” Leon cheered/pressured.

“You’ve got this, Peko!” Kaito declared at the same moment, officially setting the stakes for both goalkeepers.

Kaede, wanting to show support without tossing more pressure on, simply smiled and hummed a soft ‘mhm’ of agreement. The swordswoman gave a stiff nod and silently walked to the goal, passing a slightly nervous yet determined Gonta on his way to the mound. “Gonta try his best for friends! But, Gonta wish Peko good luck too!”

“... You as well, Gonta.” Pekoyama said, noticeably less hesitant compared to her similar exchange with him earlier on. It was brief and arguably insubstantial, but a little curious all the same given the swordswoman’s aloof demeanor. Regardless, she didn’t wait to see the small smile her words gave him, continuing onto the goal without further delay. Soon enough, she was ready and waiting at the goal, her shoulders hunching as the silver-haired girl subtly shifted into a defensive stance in preparation for another of Gokuhara’s monstrous kicks.

By contrast, the Ultimate Entomologist looked rather uncertain about how to go about his task, his gaze shifting uncertainly between the ball and the goal… actually, no. He wasn’t looking around the goal to find a good place to kick like his predecessors had; rather, his attention was focused solely on its defender. Kaede’s brow furrowed in thought. _ “... Is he afraid of hurting Peko? She shrugged off that first kick pretty easily, but there’s no way someone as sweet as Gonta doesn’t feel at least a little bad about it. I hope not...” _

Leon clearly didn’t have the same intuitive insight, crossing his arms with a small pout. “Come on, man, what are you waiting for?!”

Kuwata’s words spurred Gonta into action before anyone could reprimand the pushy remarks, the ball taking off like a cannonball only marginally slower than Ogami’s. Whether by intentional aim or sheer instinct, his powerful kick sent the ball soaring to the right, Peko leaping for the shot the moment she was sure where it was going with her arms outstretched. Kaede watched in amazement as Peko somehow managed to reach the ball in time, her hands smoothly wrapping around the ball in a stellar catch…

… and subsequently felt that amazement turn to shock when the force of the ball was enough to push through her defense and knock itself _ and _ Peko past the goal line, sending her bowling back and into the net.

“O-oh no! Peko!” Mikan gasped out, already sprinting towards her fallen friend with a panicked look. Gonta’s mortification was obvious in his body language alone, the boy simply too stunned to give any sort of verbal reaction or attempt to help no matter how much he doubtlessly wanted to. Mikan was roughly halfway to the goal in the second or so since she took off, managing to call out over her rush, “A-are you o-”

“I’m fine,” Peko interrupted, giving a small grunt as she pulled herself back to her feet relatively unscathed. Pushing up her glasses, she turned to the now-slowing nurse, crossing her arms. “Your concern is unneeded. I can assure you nothing’s out of place. At worst, some areas will likely be sore, but I am unharmed,” She said with unwavering confidence. Slowly, however, her gaze drifted from the nurse to the ball sitting idly by her feet, her lips pressing into a tight frown. “... However, it’s clear I have failed in my duty.”

Mikan blinked, knitting her brow in confusion and concern. “Wha… P-Peko, I-I don’t w-want to sound like I’m doubting you, b-but why are you focused on-”

“There’s nothing to read into. As such, there’s no reason for us to dwell on it, either. Confirm the goal and begin the next round.”

Mikan hesitated for a long moment, but Pekoyama’s sharp gaze proved too much for her fragile will. Reluctantly, the purple-haired girl raised the whistle to her lips and blew. “G-goal!”

Though part of her was vaguely disappointed by the goal, it was possibly the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. From where Kaede was standing, it was difficult to see what was happening, but what she heard was definitely odd. She hadn’t _ meant _ to listen; with everyone else being so quiet out of concern, it was almost impossible for her _ not _ to pick up on the only voices present, yet she couldn’t deny it instilled a sense of morbid curiosity in her. _ “She’s being _ ** _really_ ** _ defensive, but why? It’s just a game. Unless… maybe there’s something else she’s thinking of...?” _ Kaede wordlessly speculated. 

Her theory crafting was more or less immediately cut short by Leon’s team’s boisterous cheering, however, the team captain himself giving a mile-wide grin as he pumped a fist. “Hell yeah! Nice one, man!”

“Well struck, Beastspeaker! Your efforts bring us one step closer to our glorious victory! With further feats, you just might prove yourself worthy of being crowned a champion of my empire!” Tanaka eagerly encouraged. 

The other members gave similar shows of approval (shockingly without some sort of crude remark by Teruteru as far as she could tell) as Peko and Mikan made their way back, clearly thrilled with the sudden shift of luck, but were quick enough to settle down once the initial hype of the moment died with just a few words. “So, if Gonta remember right, then it now Peko’s turn, right?” Gokuhara questioned innocently, the smiles of his peers quickly transforming into slight unease when they realized just what it was they had to contend with next. 

Mikan gave a small nod. “Y-yes. So, um, please start going to the goal. I-if you want!”

Unperturbed by the challenge, Gonta eagerly agreed before making his way to the goal, Peko preparing herself at the mound just as he left. Akamatsu could still feel her curiosity gnawing at the back of her mind watching her stoic acquaintance… but, she tried her best to put the thoughts aside for the moment. They were here for fun, after all, and there would be plenty of time to ponder those things during her investigation later. Keeping that in mind, she watched on with a growing sense of excitement, waiting for yet another stunning display of borderline superhuman ability.

The hush that fell over the crowd was deafening. Everyone was too focused on what could happen to dare speak and jinx it one way or the other… though that didn’t stop Kaito from mouthing out encouraging messages despite Peko looking in the opposite direction. Kaede certainly wasn’t jealous of either goalie; between being under the expectant and hopeful stares of her team or getting scrutinized by Peko’s piercing red eyes, she couldn’t decide which one would be more uncomfortable. 

A beat passed, and then another. Halfway through a third, Peko made her move.

The kick came as suddenly as Ogami’s, but the sound of the impact would hardly have been noticeable if there was any other noise present, a near-silent strike that sent the ball soaring through the air. It shot up sharply towards the top right, barreling towards the goal with reckless abandon and making Gonta quickly surge towards it with his massive paw waiting where it should have gone…

… but, if there was one thing Kaede knew for sure about Peko, it was that she had a knack for surprising when people least expected it, and this instance was no different. The Ultimate Swordswoman hadn’t just learned how to defend against Leon’s trick, but apparently took his advice on how to pull such a shot off, as the ball abruptly swerved to the opposite direction just like his in an intriguing mirror of her prior mistake. Gonta seemed to have notice the change in direction before Kaede or anyone else, his eyes going wide as he desperately tossed himself over to the left to attempt a block in the split-second before it altered course. The ball zoomed towards the net at full speed just as Gonta’s hulking form started to get into position, stretching his hands out as far as he could…

… and just _ barely _ grazing it with his fingers, knocking it just far enough away that it soared past the empty space next to the goal.

“S-save! L-Leon’s team wins!”

The reaction was as loud as it was immediate, Leon throwing his arms up in the air with a joyous cheer, his cohorts joining in the celebration with high-fives and whooping of their own while Kaito, Tsumugi, and Kaede gave disappointed groans. “Oh, man! We were **so** close!” Kaede couldn’t help but whine. 

“It’s kind of a let down, like when an anime you’re starting to get into just gets abruptly canceled…” Tsumugi concurred.

Kaito rubbed at his head. “Well, yeah, it’s not great… but hey! It’s not the win that counts; it’s the match, and everyone here nailed it! Good game, guys!”

Kaede, despite her groan, was honestly inclined to agree. It _ sucked _ to come so tantalizingly close to a win just to have it ripped out from under her at the last moment, but there was an odd sort of contentment at the same time. It was like crackling electricity with nowhere to go; the sort of rush only a close competition like this could bring. Disappointing as it was to fall short at the last hurdle, between that rush and the broad grins of her rivals, the once-Ultimate Pianist couldn’t help but smile herself. “That’s right. Good game, guys!”

Leon grinned broadly, rubbing at his head. “Thanks! Y’know, you guys weren’t too shabby either!”

The two groups of Ultimates exchanged congratulations and praise freely after that, the players of both teams in high spirits and chatting amicably among each other in a sort of unofficial afterparty. It was more or less just them going around bragging about their plays during the match or otherwise hanging out, but given the suffocating tension that had been wrapping around them all like a snake for so much of the voyage so far, that was exactly what Kaede wanted to see the most. The noisy hum of banter and camaraderie gave her a sense of peace not often found aboard the ship. For that, she considered this outing to be an outstanding success.

This went on for some time, long enough that Kaede felt more and more reluctant to bow out of it the longer she stayed there. It was _ incredibly _ tempting to just stay with her friends and engage with their celebrations for as long as they’d go on… but, equally pulling on her was the heavy weight of responsibility. She _ needed _ to try finding clues about whatever the truth of her case and game was, and she only had so much time to do so before Monokuma created some new mess for her that would take up her focus. That sensation only increased when she noticed Chiaki had apparently changed at some point and was now lingering outside the gate of Leon’s lab, patiently waiting for Kaede. As much as she wanted otherwise, it wasn’t long before the ex-pianist couldn’t ignore the itching drive any longer, taking the soonest opportunity to politely bow out of the discussion and head over towards the dugout to change.

That had initially been the plan, at least. As she was approaching the building, however, she noticed Mondo resting at the bleachers in the outcove, the man using a higher tier of seats to keep his leg elevated, doubtlessly a demand from the Ultimate Nurse sitting nearby. _ “Huh. Come to think of it, they’ve been hanging out a little more even before he got hurt, haven’t they? I wonder how those two hit it off.” _ Kaede thought to herself curiously. She couldn’t spend much more time here… but, a minute or two just to make sure he was alright would be fine, surely. That was how she justified it, a smile blooming across her face as she approached her resting friends. “Hey, guys!”

“K-Kaede! H-hello!” Mikan happily greeted

By contrast, Mondo simply perked his head up with a small hint of a smirk, turning to Akamatsu and offering a lazy wave. “Yo. What’s up?”

“Well, I was just going to change and head out for some plans with Chiaki, but I wanted to check up on you,” She replied, technically being completely honest. The closer she could be to the truth without giving things away, the better. Kaede’s smile fell slightly as it twinged with concern. “How’s your ankle feeling?”

The biker huffed out a cross between a scoff and a sigh, rolling his eyes. “Oh, for the love of… it’s nothing, alright? It ain’t even stinging anymore. Seriously, I’ve gotten more fucked up just going to school than this. Compared to some of the shit that’s happened in fights, this is barely even a scratch.”

“B-but, i-it’s still sensitive...!” Mikan whimpered.

The musician crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him disapprovingly. “She’s right; that’s not a good argument. Just because you’ve been hurt worse before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take this seriously now… and hey! You shouldn’t be getting into fights to begin with!”

Mondo simply rolled his eyes again. “Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, remember? It comes with the territory,” He grumbled with a slight sneer. His features softened again after a moment as he glanced towards his apparent caretaker. “But, whatever. I already promised Mikan I wouldn’t make it worse. Ain’t like I had a lot planned in the meantime anyway.”

Tsumiki’s fretting paused, her hunched shoulders dropping a little in relief. “I-it’s small enough that it shouldn’t be more than a day or two before walking should be alright if you’re c-careful, at least. B-but nothing more strenuous than th-that, okay?”

Mondo sighed, lips pulling in a deep frown as he muttered something under his breath. “... Fine.”

“Hmm… I’m sorry to hear you’re going to have to take things easy, but I’m glad you will. The sooner we can _ safely _ get you back on your feet, the better,” Kaede hummed. Her smile returned to her as she shifted the conversation to a more positive one. “After all, we’re gonna need you for a rematch, so do your best! We’ll be there every step of the way!” She encouraged brightly, puzzling at his flat look and raised eyebrow until it clicked. “Er… okay, bad phrasing, but you get the point.”

Owada scoffed a bit, but seemed to at least partially appreciate the sentiment. “Tch… yeah, I do. Thanks.”

Kaede's smile grew a little. After a moment, however, that nagging sense of dwindling time returned, forcing her to wrap things up. “No problem! It’s what friends are for, after all! For now, though, I should probably get going. If I keep Chiaki waiting much longer, I’m not sure she won’t just end up taking a nap.”

“Heh, sounds about right. Later, then.” Mondo chuckled.

“O-oh, okay. G-goodbye! Have a nice time!” Mikan bid farewell, waving with a bit too much energy in a way that showed she wasn’t used to such openly friendly mannerisms. It made Kaede all the more reluctant to leave, but alas, she had no choice. 

“See you later, guys!” She wished, and with that, entered the dugout. It didn’t take very long to swap back into her usual outfit even with the bit of time she spent figuring out how to fold up and pack the baseball uniform into her backpack. Cheesy as the thing was, she genuinely liked how it looked, and at the very least hanging onto it meant she had a spare outfit that wasn’t identical like the rest of her closet’s offerings. Leon didn’t care one way or the other when she asked about keeping it, so there was no real reason not to.

It seemed the event was winding down just as she finished equipping and storing everything she needed, most of the other girls coming in to change as she walked out. The field was similarly barren, proving the boys were doing the same in the music room… with one exception to both. Kaede’s brow raised in curiosity as she noticed a seemingly unlikely pair standing over in the field talking between each other. 

Gonta was always a fairly sociable person, so seeing him chatting with someone after everyone else had left wasn’t too surprising. What made it so unexpected was that his conversation partner was _ Peko _ of all people. Sure, the two had been on pleasant terms during the match, but the Ultimate Swordswoman generally wasn’t one for voluntary conversation aside from with Sakura or arguably Kaito. Pleased as she was to see it, Kaede was a little taken aback at the same time. Subconsciously, she found her ears straining to discern the faint mutterings she could pick up on from where she stood.

“_ ... -onta very sorry again for hurting you. He not mean any harm. _”

Distantly, Kaede could see Peko’s head shake. “_ As I said previously, it’s fine. I’ve endured worse blows before, and I’m certain I will again in the future, _ ” The fighter dismissed without a hint of insincerity. It was a little unnerving to hear such a blunt declaration made without any context for what she was referring to, but there would be time to dwell on the potential horrors of Peko’s childhood later. For the moment, Pekoyama instead opted to attempt assuring the gentle giant. “ _ Besides, if anything, it’s a testament to your abilities. _”

“_ Gonta… not think that make it alright, but if Peko okay, Gonta can accept. Oh, and you also very good! Gonta might have scored goal, but it not easy for him or team, so you also be proud! _”

“_ ... It is not too dissimilar to my work in the past, _ ” Peko said neutrally after a pause, her lips pressing into a thin line before giving a small shake of her head. “ _ Still, I appreciate the compliment. What you’ve said has... put something into perspective for me. I have to go for now, but thank you, Gonta. _”

Gonta gave a nod, his wild hair bouncing like foliage even being cropped by the helmet as it was. “_ Ah, okay! Goodbye for now! _” He said with a smile as he gave a wave and started towards the music venue. 

Kaede looked away before she could see Peko turn, walking casually towards the gate as if she’d only just left the dugout. She briefly felt the swordswoman’s gaze upon her, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, proving she’d gotten away with it. Her thoughts didn’t linger on her stealthy getaway, however, focusing instead on what she’d just observed. _ “Peko didn’t sound very certain when she was talking about her job… is this about what she was talking about at the poker match a few days ago?” _ Kaede theorized. She didn’t have much of anything to work on if that was the case… but, thankfully, she was about to meet up with someone who already seemed especially insightful about Pekoyama’s situation.

Chiaki hadn’t budged an inch from her spot by the gate, the Ultimate Gamer somehow having managed to fall soundly asleep slouched against the cold metal with her handheld precariously balanced between loose hands. “Hey, Chiaki?” Kaede called out as she approached to alert her investigation partner. Nanami’s only response was a soft snore, much to Kaede’s chagrin. “Chiaki? Hello? C’mon, wake up!” She tried again, softly shaking her shoulders to force her to stir. When the girl failed to wake up once again, Akamatsu gave a small huff. “Seriously…? Is she actually narcoleptic?”

Kaede tried clapping a few times only to give up when she started to annoy herself with the noise and Nanami continued to be completely oblivious to everything around her. “... Maybe I should try poking her? That worked with Tsumugi, but she was just ignoring me, not totally out of it. I don’t wanna freak her out if it does wake her up…” The musician debated under her breath, genuinely at a loss for what to do. After a few more moments, her (admittedly not great) self control ran out and she found herself extending a finger towards Chiaki’s cheek, drawing closer and closer-

Chiaki’s eyes fluttered open suddenly, blinking with fatigue and quickly after into confusion as Kaede abruptly froze with her finger in Chiaki’s face. A beat passed without either one speaking, Nanami slowly tilting her head to the side as her brow furrowed. “... What are you doing?”

Kaede could only stand there like a deer in headlights, completely unsure of what to say. “I… couldn’t wake you up, so I was going to poke you until you noticed.” She explained awkwardly. It felt rather bizarre to admit, but what on earth else could she possibly say to make it sound better?

“... Oh. That makes sense. Are you ready to go?” Chiaki asked with a small shrug, to Kaede’s absolute bafflement.

“Er… sure?” She said unsurely. She was certainly eager for the chance to change the topic and get to work, but something about the sequence of events felt too jarring to ignore. _ “What…? She’s okay with that? She’s taking something like that way too casually...!” _

Nanami nodded, flicking her handheld off and setting it in her coat pocket as she casually led the blonde through the gates and they unofficially began their park-wide investigation. Kaede followed along, not really certain of where they were heading, if anywhere in specific, causing her to ask and subsequently get an answer from the gamer. “Well, it’d probably be a good idea to figure out some sort of starting point. Is there anywhere you want to look first, or something you think might be a clue?”

“Well… I doubt it’s related to what we’re looking for, but is it just me, or has Peko been acting a little strange lately?”

The Ultimate Gamer glanced over to her for a moment. “... What do you mean?”

Kaede gave a small shrug. “I don’t really know her that well, but she’s just been… different. She’s more willing to talk to people, which is great… but, there’s also been some things I can’t make sense of. Like, when Gonta’s shot ended up bowling her over, she snapped at Mikan for wanting to make sure she was okay. You know her better than I do. That’s not normal for her, is it?”

Chiaki’s eyes took on that considering look that hinted towards the powerful mind behind the often lazy exterior. “... Snapping doesn’t sound like Peko. But, she… doesn’t really have a good opinion of herself. I don’t feel like it’s my place to say anything specific, but she doesn’t like the idea of failing, no matter what. We aren’t that close, either, but I’ll see if I can figure anything out when I see her next. Anything else?”

Kaede hesitated a moment, debating whether or not she should mention Tsumugi’s video. It was too vague to be a clue of anything, and unlike her own video, Kaede had watched it with mostly objective eyes and found nothing as illogical as the discrepancies in her own. Given that and her disastrous meeting with Tsumugi earlier, the idea of showing Chiaki the video felt like betraying a friend even more than she already had for no solid reason. As such, the former Ultimate Pianist decided to withhold that detail, shaking her head. “Not really. Do you have any leads? If not, maybe we could just go around and see if we find anything on the way?”

Chiaki let out a small, thoughtful hum. “Hmm… I don’t have anything for sure, but we could try taking another look at whatever Monokuma was building. If it really is a motive, there’s a decent chance it could shed a bit more light on whatever happened in your case… I think.”

The maestro swallowed down the tingling sense of worry that suggestion brought. It was intimidating to possibly confront whatever dark truth awaited at the end of this mystery… but her resolve would not be broken. “You’re right. We’ll head there and see what we can find. Even if we can’t find anything definitive, the sooner we find _ something _, the sooner we can start figuring all this out. So… let’s get started.” Kaede said decisively, subconsciously taking the lead and pulling ahead of Nanami with determined strides.

No matter what, she would find out the truth of her case, for everyone’s sakes.

***

The walk to the mysterious building was a long one made even longer by the pair carefully watching their surroundings for any possible clue Monokuma may have tauntingly left in plain sight. Their examinations didn’t actually turn up anything -the few bits of decoure that stood out from the rest of their surroundings providing nothing but obnoxious Monokuma merchandise and some pamphlets about the park they took just in case- but felt important all the same. Overlooking the small things was what put Kaede in this situation to begin with, after all. Even if the perceived waste of time quietly stressed at the back of her mind, she forced herself to keep focusing. Any indication of the truth one way or the other was vital, and she’d be damned if she missed it because she got impatient.

Once they were there, though, a sight considerably different to the one just a day prior awaited her. The giant crane and obnoxious thudding of the jackhammer were gone, as was any other sign of construction. In fact, Kaede couldn’t see _ any _ details of the former construction site as it was now hidden behind a large, dramatic red curtain that spanned the length of the building directly in front of them. It was like just about anything else Monokuma made: gaudy, unnatural, and confusing to the point of being unsettling. “What…? This place was a mess yesterday, and now it’s finished? How did Monokuma do that?” The blonde wondered aloud, unable to comprehend the extraordinary change over seemingly no time at all.

Chiaki was less phased, shrugging slightly. “He does this a lot. I don’t really get it either… but, I don’t think that really matters right now.”

Akamatsu nodded, trying to shake of her confusion and focus on the task at hand. “Right. Whatever the motive is, it’s definitely behind that curtain. So… ready to go in?” She asked. With a small ‘yep’ from her partner, the musician took a moment to gather her nerve before marching towards the veil. Pushing through before she could hesitate and potentially psych herself out of it, she stormed forwarth, finding yet another strange sight awaiting her on this side of the cover.

Though it was considerably dark on her side of the curtain from the lack of any lights, but the difference between it the day before and now was like night and day. The once plain, lifeless grey concrete had been transformed to a swirling mural of deep blues and purples that almost seemed to faintly glow in the dim light, each coming together to collectively form what looked like a sea of question marks each contrasted by the colors of the ones surrounding them. It was a little dizzying to look at, but that wasn’t all that had changed. 

In the center of a small squarish extension from the building was a significantly larger question mark that had been cut out to function as a sort of doorway, deactivated lights running along the outline further implying this was more than likely the entrance of whatever the place was. A small staircase led up to it, making the structure seem slightly imposing despite its downright bizarre paintjob. The curtain fluttered a little as Chiaki slipped in after Kaede, her soft pink eyes taking in the new environment with clear curiosity. “... Huh…”

Kaede lips quirked downwards a touch. “That’s underselling it. This design is so strange. I have no clue what this place is supposed to be.”

“I don’t either… so I guess we don’t have any choice but to go in,” Nanami surmised, taking a careful step forward. Kaede wordlessly walked beside her, straining her eyes to see anything but shadow more than a couple feet away from her. Seeing as how it had been a construction zone less than a day ago, she was careful to keep an eye on where she was walking lest she trip over something, so it wasn’t too surprising that her comrad was the first to notice an odd detail about the building now that they were drawing closer to it. “... Hey, look up. I think there’s a sign there.”

Kaede lifted her head up curiously, trailing Chiaki’s gaze to a spot just above the door. It was almost impossible to make out at first, but after a few seconds of squinting, Kaede could fainly see there were in fact letters of some sort written out in unlit neon tubes. “...! You’re right! I can’t really make it out from here, but… hang on. I think that’s a ‘t’? ‘T’... ‘U’... ‘N’-”

Before she could draw any closer to decipher the lettering further, the world was suddenly bathed in an angry red light as an equally furious metallic screech sounded pierced the air. ** _“UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED! UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED!”_ ** The same unidentified robotic voice from that daunting experience from behind the stage bellowed from seemingly everywhere. Just like the last time she’d heard it, she suddenly found herself staring down the business end of several turrets that had dropped down from the ceiling of the structure and threateningly pointed themselves at her and Chiaki. ** _“Access to this location has not been granted by the Captain! Vacate immediately or be eliminated!”_ **

Kaede was frozen in terror, her legs refusing to cooperate for a moment only to almost topple herself over when she finally managed to scamper back hastfully. “Run!” She yelled out on instinct, grabbing Chiaki by the wrist and dragging her along before the pink-haired girl could even try moving on her own. They were out of the tent in a matter of seconds and continued dashing for a good twenty feet or so before Kaede finally slowed to a stop, a dazed Chiaki barely managing to catch her feet from the momentum of Kaede manhandling her. Akamatsu took a shuddering breath, shaking her head quickly before looking to her friend in concern. “Are you okay, Chiaki?”

“... ‘M fine… just… dizzy,” Nanami admitted with a slight wince. She closed her eyes for a long moment as she seemed to steady herself, slowly reopening them with a small frown. “... Okay. I think we’re fine… probably. But, I don’t think we’re getting to look at whatever that place is before Monokuma wants us to.”

** _“RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!”_ **

Kaede didn’t even have a chance to take in what Chiaki said before five obnoxious voices screeched out their signature catchphrase, annoyance shooting up her spine as the Monokubs suddenly shot up behind her. “Oh, for the love of-”

“Of course you guys can’t take a look! Father’s not ready for anyone to see it yet, so that means no one does! Not even you, Mommy!” Monotaro said authoritatively, a cross of bandages poorly hiding the bump on his head.

“I’m not your mom, you weirdo!” She growled out in disgust, only to go completely ignored by the other cubs.

“Yeah, you bastards! It’s like tryin’ to peek at your Christmas presents; you’ll get ‘em when we’re good and ready to, so suck it up!” Monkid barked out, slamming his paw across his guitar and creating a horrendous electric squeal to emphasize his point.

“It would be just terrible if you guys had to face punishment. It’d be so brizzly and gorey and… ugh, I can’t even think about it!” Monophanie whined pathetically.

Monosuke pushed up his glasses with a sneer. “Speak for yourself, sis; I’m dyin’ for some entertainment around here! That said, there’s a great little thing called private property. Youse best stop trampling over it unless you wanna get trampled on yourself, got it?”

Monodam didn’t say anything, silently cowering behind his siblings. That worked out great for Kaede as it gave her a chance to push back against the infuriating little robots. “So it definitely is the motive, then. And whatever kind of motive it is, you’re scared of someone finding it early. Right?”

The group of animatronics seemed to collectively flinch at that, each letting out startled noises of panic. Monosuke swirled on his feet to glare at his brothers. “Y-you idiots! You weren’t supposed t’say anything about that! Now they definitely know **the tunnel** is-”

“Stop! Now you’re the one spoiling things! No one said the motive and the tunnel are the same… oh no! I didn’t mean to say that!” Monophanie cried out in horror.

Monotaro scratched at his head. “Really? I remember them totally talking about that. But, I guess it makes sense. Aw well, I guess it’s fine-”

The Monokubs quickly descended into bickering over each other, jabbering on and on without anything of merrit to say as Kaede’s patience grew thinner and thinner. “Stop messing around already! We get it; we’re not allowed to go there yet. If there’s something important, spit it out, but otherwise just stop wasting our time!”

The yellow monokub took up the opportunity to answerer. “For the moment? Nah; we just wanted ya to get a reminder who’s in charge around here. But, go in there again, or keep messin’ with Pops’ stuff, and it’ll end up costin’ ya a lot more than just a warnin’ next time. Got it?” He threatened wish a condescending smirk and disdainful glare.

Kaede glared right back, opening her mouth to spit out another retort, but got cut off by Chiaki. “Yep. We’ll be careful, especially with the tunnel of… whatever it is.”

Monotaro smiled broadly, and in that moment she realized what Chiaki’s angle was. “Oh! I actually remember that one! It’s the **Tunnel of S-**”

“SILENCE.”

The supposed leader of the Monokubs tilted his head in evident confusion. “Huh? No, that’s not it. It’s-”

Before he could make the slip, Monodam slapped a metallic paw over his brother’s mouth, an ominous energy exuding from the often meek robot. “BROTHER. STOP-TALKING. FATHER-WILL-BE-DISPLEASED-IF-THE-SURPRISE-IS-RUINED. IF-HE-IS-ANGRY, NO-ONE-CAN-GET-ALONG.”

“Ah, shut the fuck up, Monodam, or I’ll beat the bolts out of you!” Monokid crassly dismissed, only to get smacked up the head by Monosuke. “Ow! What the hell was that for?!”

“‘Cause he’s right, dumabass! We ain’t got a game if you idiots spill your guts on the twists every time one of these brats asks a question!”

That declaration only seemed to agitate the blue bear further, tossing his arms in the air with a scoff. “Oh, screw you! You’re just jealous I’m dad’s favorite compared to you garbage!” He spat, and in an instant, the bunch of robots launched into a cacophony of arguing as they turned on each other like wolves biting and scratching for the last shred of meat. In the midst of their bickering, the Monokubs all sunk into the floor, arguing the whole way down until they were finally out of sight and earshot, leaving the pair of Ultimates alone and frustrated.

“Damn it… well, that was a total bust. Stupid bears...” Kaede hissed under her breath, crossing her arms and glowering at where they’d stood.

“... I don’t know about that,” Chiaki muttered quietly, drawing a half-curious half-doubtful look from the blonde. “True, they didn’t really tell us anything about it we didn’t already know… but, from how they were talking, it sounds like Monokuma’s planning on showing it off soon… probably. Plus, maybe that weird design ties into it, somehow.”

Akamatsu paused a moment, thinking it over as she recalled the bizarre pattern on the building. “The design of it, huh…? Well, it was a bunch of question marks, so maybe something like mysteries or something like that?”

Chiaki rubbed at her chin. “Something like that would make sense. Monokuma said Felony Funland is supposed to reveal truths of our games…”

“... Which leaves us with the question of how exactly this thing does that, and if it has anything to do with my tape,” Kaede finished, frowning but considerably less annoyed now that she had _ some _ sense of what this thing was. She cast her gaze back to the curtain and sighed. “But I guess we won’t get to figure those out until Monokuma shows it off.”

The Ultimate Gamer didn’t respond for a moment, looking to be puzzling things out in her mind before finally setting on an answer. “... I guess that’s true. There’s not a whole lot we can do about that, then. But, there’s still a lot of the park left to check out. We’re not out of leads just yet… I think.”

The once-Ultimate Pianist certainly wasn’t happy with it, but after a few moments, she granted a conceding nod. “You’re right. We just have to push on and hope we can find something more useable soon. Let’s go.”

With that, the pair pressed onwards towards Lil’ Jabberwock, Kaede sending one last glance to the mysterious building and trying to ignore the gnawing sense of dread it filled her with.

***

The second run through the island-themed section proved about as fruitless as her first time there. The merchandise and game stands had turned up little of interest (though Kaede _ did _ manage to find some monocoins behind an oddly-angled Monokuma plushy) even when Chiaki attempted to play a balloon popping game. She hadn’t paid particularly close attention, grimacing and looking away she realized that the balloons were placed squarely over rather detailed cardboard cutouts of _ people _, but it seemed all Nanami’s efforts netted her was a Monokuma roughly half her height. It stuck out like a sore thumb poking out from Chiaki’s backpack, but she seemed fairly alright with keeping it, even if Kaede couldn’t begin to understand why. How she could want such an ugly thing was beyond her, even if part of that puzzlement was born of her growing worries.

It was disappointing and somewhat frustrating to still be empty handed nearly half an hour into their investigation, but she forced herself to ignore it as best she could. After all, if the answers were supposed to come easily, Monokuma wouldn’t have bothered hiding them to begin with. That was the thought that carried her through the obnoxiously decorated streets of Lil’ Jabberwock as Chiaki more or less silently wandered by her side.

Things changed when they passed Peko’s lab and the street she’d bumped into Sakura on the day before. Since Tsumugi went in this direction when they split up, Kaede had never seen this part of the park before, leaving it as entirely uncharted territory in her mind. The only two exceptions were the structures so enormous that they were visible from just about anywhere on this side of the park: the roller coaster in the near-distance, and the watchful eye of what was presumably the funhouse clocktower staring down upon them from towards the back of the ship. Of those, at least the latter one was a major setpiece that could potentially provide vital evidence both she and Chiaki missed on their first visit, making it the obvious next target of their investigation.

On the way there, Kaede’s thoughts drifted to how Chiaki and Gundham reacted to the mention of the funhouse, a morbid curiosity settling over her mind as they approached what was apparently a direct homage to one of the previous games’ landmarks of suffering. “Hey, Chiaki? Do you mind if I ask you something about your game?”

A beat passed. “... Okay. What’s on your mind?”

“Well… it’s just that you and Gundham seemed pretty freaked out when you heard about the funhouse here, and you mentioned you guys had one, too. So, what exactly was it that had you guys so worried?”

“... It was one of our motives,” Chiaki said quietly, her voice bland but holding just a twinge of sadness to it. “When we went inside, Monokuma trapped us there and said no one would get any food until someone died.”

“Oh my god… that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” Kaede gasped out. It wasn’t necessarily shocking -she knew first hand how cruel Monokuma’s motives could be- but that didn’t make it any better.

“It’s fine.” Chiaki said with a solemn nod, but didn’t speak further, letting the conversation fizzle out. Kaede didn’t bother pressing further. The generic tropical music droning over the speakers filled the silence between them as they strolled down the barren walkways, Kaede trying to think of something she could say to lighten the mood with each step until the faint sound of something distinctly human hit her ears.

“_ ... -iously, dude? _”

“_ Of course! I might be a flirt, but my flattery is all genuine. You can trust that I’m serious to the last drop! _”

Kaede raised her eyebrow curiously, tilting her head to the side as she picked up on two familiar voices. “Huh…? Do you hear that, Chiaki?”

Nanami looked at her curiously. “Hear what?”

“Hold on. It sounded like it came from up ahead,” Kaede noted, taking the lead and moving to the source of the noise. The voices grew louder, proving they were closing in as a third seemed to join in.

“_ Do you seriously not get what you’re saying, or are you trying to get hit, man? _”

“_ C’mon, Leon, don’t hit him over something like that. He’s got a point though, Teruteru; you’re kinda squicking us out. _”

“_ How, Kaito? I’m just admiring a fellow Ultimate’s skills. There’s always something to be said for someone good with their feet! _”

Kaede tried her best to stifle a sigh. “Seriously, Teruteru?” She muttered under her breath in annoyance. His comments were crass enough that it didn’t occur to her until a moment later that it was strange to hear the three of them hanging out together. Sure, Kaito and Leon were becoming fast friends, but she couldn’t recall either of them sharing more than a handful of words to the skeevy cook. _ “Unless they managed to hit it off during the game, too? I guess it wouldn’t be the strangest friendship here…” _

After a few more moments of walking, Kaede and Chiaki arrived at a turn that opened up to the entrance of the roller coaster, the enormous twisting railway dauntingly sprawled out a dozen or so years ahead of them in all its glory. More related to their search, though, were the three men she’d heard bickering: Teruteru, Leon, and Kaito, the trio standing around and chatting just outside of the maze-like line rails. She smiled, taking a step forward as she prepared to greet them, but stopped in her tracks as a certain comment raised her curiosity.

Kaito put a hand on his hip, thinning his lips at the chef. “I mean, yeah, but you don’t gotta say it so creepily. You gotta know who your audience is!”

Hanamura gave a neutral hum, twirling the end of his pompadour between his fingers. “True; a wonderfully saucy steak will never appeal to a vegetarian. Getting a feel for what your clients want is a top priority for a chef like me. I’ll admit, I’m playing with you two more than I’ve been doing most lately since you guys seem better inclined to it than, say, Kaede. But, tastes are subjective, and I can flavor things differently if it’s just too juicy for you to handle,” He teased with a shrug. Kaede rolled her eyes, but what stayed her approach was what he said next. “Speaking of tastes, though? If you wouldn’t mind indulging me, what do you think about the girls around here?”

Kaede paused in place, putting a hand on an advancing Chiaki’s shoulder to keep her from giving them away. She silently raised a finger to her lips and gave a small nod towards the gathered boys in an effort to make her intentions clear. Nanami still looked confused, but didn’t try resisting the musician at all, which was all Kaede needed. This was a rare opportunity to investigate a long-standing curiosity of hers… even if it wasn’t exactly related to the mystery they were currently after.

Kaede was far from naive. It was far from a secret that guys gossiped about girls when they were alone just as surely as the other way around. That was just how things worked. However, she had never actually had the opportunity to listen in on one of these elusive conversations. After all, simply being a girl would almost certainly cause a conversation like that to dry up immediately by all but the most brazen individuals, presenting her with an interesting chance here. As long as she had an opportunity, why not listen in and see what all the hubbub was about? At the very least, it could make for a fun distraction for a few minutes, and it wasn’t like any of this was some grim secret.

With that in mind, she, and by extension Chiaki, listened in on their conversation.

Leon looked at Teruteru in clear distaste. “Pass. Maybe later.”

“Shy, huh? Hmm, fair enough, even if it is a boring answer. As for you?” Teruteru turned his head towards Momota.

Kaito rubbed at his goatee in thought. “Well, I haven’t really thought about it all that much, but from what I’ve seen? A pretty nice looking bunch of ladies here.”

The Ultimate Chef grinned. “My my, it seems that you’ve got good taste, Kaito! With such a nice variety of choices, it’s like being in the middle of the world’s finest buffet, isn’t it?” 

“Er… I don’t think so. It’s more like stargazing, y’know?”

_ “That’s… potentially better?” _ Kaede mused. The latter comparison certainly didn’t feel as uncomfortable, at least.

Teruteru tisked in light reprimand. “Enjoying from afar, but never touching? Don’t set your expectations so low! I’m sure you could put your flag on a few, at least!”

“Who said anything about never getting close? You have to reach out to the stars if you want to touch them! Just because it might seem impossible doesn’t mean it is!” Kaito proclaimed proudly, making Kaede wince. She’d never taken him for the sort to hold that sort of attitude. Sure, he’d asked for a couple hugs back at the academy, but to hear him playing along with an innuendo like that- “Though I think you’ve got things mixed up. You put flags on moons and planets, not stars. I mean, that’s literally trying to put something cloth on the sun!”

Kaede blinked, staring at the astronaut confusedly. Teruteru looked about as lost as her, his brow rising a bit. “Er… I don’t mind taking things fast, but I feel like we’re not on the same page here. I was talking about embracing your passions with the girls. The space thing was just a metaphor.”

Momota pumped a fist. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Chasing your passions like that is the best thing a man can do!”

“You’re seriously not getting this, are you?” Leon wondered aloud with a dubious look.

Kaito’s head tilted in confusion. “Getting what?”

_ “... Well, it’s good to know he’s just _ ** _really_ ** _ oblivious instead of being a womanizer, I guess?” _ Akamatsu thought, puzzled. How he could simultaneously have the capacity for both incredible emotional insight while also being blinder than a bat on the most obvious things was a mystery she wasn’t sure she’d ever find the answer to.

“... I’ve worked with duller knives to make things work,” Teruteru muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he regained his easygoing smile. “Okay, let me put it in a way that leaves no room for doubt: which girl would you want to end up with if you could?”

Kaito’s eyes widened a bit in realization, scratching at his head with a soft tisk. “Oh… honestly, I dunno. Don’t get me wrong; all of them are awesome, and I could see things going well with pretty much any of them, but…”

“But? There has to be someone you’ve got your eyes one… ah. Is it not someone on that list?” Teruteru asked. If there was a specific answer he was trying to prod from the Ultimate Astronaut, however, it likely wasn’t the one he actually gave.

“Well… I guess you could say that. Let’s just say there’s a girl who’s pretty important to me outside of here, and… well…” Kaito sighed deeply, his lips pulling into a small frown. “Right before I got executed, she told me she’d fallen for me. Everything was going so fast that I didn’t really know how to react, but… I know she’s out there, somewhere. When I see her again… maybe we could give things a shot.”

A heavy silence fell over them all, Teruteru’s previous teasing expression falling to one unusually somber for him. Kaede looked at Kaito sympathetically. _ “I couldn’t imagine going through something like that… but he seems so determined. I’m sure you’ll see her again, Kaito. Whoever she is…” _ Kaede thought to herself, making a mental note to talk to him about that later.

Leon was the first to break the silence. “... Well, I hope things work out for you. I’d say she’d be pretty lucky to have someone like you.”

Kaito’s lips quirked up appreciatively. “Thanks, man. I know things’ll work out, so I just have to hold out until then. In the meantime, maybe I can help you manage to find someone while we’re here. I’m a pretty good wingman, you know!”

“Oh, that reminds me! Since Kaito showed us his, it’s only fair you do yours, Leon. You did say later, after all! So, which of the girls are you keeping an eye on? Or boys, if that’s how your bat swings?” Hanamura teased, smirking at Kuwata’s scowl.

“Hey, first off, don’t say crap like that, alright? It’s _ mega _ uncool,” The Ultimate Baseball Star warned, crossing his arms. “Second… I’m not really looking for that sort of thing right now. Kind of had bigger things on my mind lately.”

Teruteru shrugged. “If you say so, my friend. I say the ladies here and ‘big things’ go handful in hand, but I’m a special case. Speaking of which, though, I’m sure you’re waiting with baited breath to hear my critique, huh?”

_ “... You agreed to let him change at his own pace. He can have a few comments without getting another slap…” _ Akamatsu reminded herself with a pout.

As for the ones actually participating in the discussion, the other two boys stayed silent for a moment until Kaito spoke up. “Yeah… don’t take it personally, Teruteru, but I have a pretty strong feeling I know exactly what you’d say if we asked you.”

“Same here.” Leon responded without missing a beat. 

Teruteru continued on as if they’d said yes, smirking to himself as he spoke. “Well, on one hand, Kaede and Chiaki are both pretty appealing inside and out. A man certainly couldn’t go wrong taking nice girls like them home,” He mused. Kaede… wasn’t sure if she appreciated the remark or not, given who was saying it, but it was certainly more flattering than what she’d expect him to focus on. Chiaki seemed completely unphased by the comments, merely stifling a yawn in response. Teruteru was far from finished, however. “On the other hand, I also think Mikan’s quite a cutie. The way she stutters, smiles at the smallest things, and leaves nothing to the imagination… mmmhmm, gotta love it. And, I would be crazy not to mention Peko and Sakura. I’m sure you can get the appeal of a girl stronger than you without much explaining.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow slowly. “That’s… a pretty long list.”

Teruteru shook his head. “Hang on, there’s more to go. After all, it’d be a shame to overlook Tsumugi. A bit plain on the outside to be sure, but if there’s anything a good chef will tell you, it’s that even the plainest looking dish can surprise you with its hidden spices. Of course, Kirumi speaks for herself. Sharp as a tack, devoted, absolutely rocking that maid outfit, and… well, you know how it is with maids, am I right guys?”

A beat passed in absolute silence, four sets of eyes on the Ultimate Chef and not one of them impressed. Kaede couldn’t help but scoff. _ “Did he seriously-” _

“Dude, you literally just said yes to every single girl here!” Leon finished her thought, clearly frustrated by Teruteru’s lack of commitment.

Hanamura chuckled. “Oh, that’s true, but I’m not finished yet. I haven’t gotten to-”

_ “Okay, that’s enough. Letting them hear any more of _ ** _that_ ** _ would just be cruel,” _ Kaede thought to herself as she and subsequently Chiaki started strolling towards the trio. “Hey guys!” She exclaimed, getting the trio’s attention.

Kaito grinned and waved her over, visibly glad both to see one of his sidekicks and the opportunity to escape Teruteru’s rambling. “Oh hey, Kaede! Chiaki! How’s it goin’?”

Leon’s relief was even more obvious, his shoulders slumping as he muttered ‘oh thank god’ under his breath. Teruteru, by contrast, looked momentarily concerned as if afraid she’d overheard him (which she most certainly did) before smiling with a small salute. “Well hello there! I didn’t think we’d be seeing you two any time soon. Happy little coincidence to bump together here, huh?”

“... Yep. It’s weird for such a big place, but I’m glad. Kaede and I were just kind of wandering around. Are you guys doing the same?” Chiaki asked, conveniently leaving out the reason behind their wandering. 

Kaito nodded. “More or less, yeah. Didn’t really feel like having lunch, so I figured I’d see if there was anything worth doing around here, and Leon and Teruteru wanted in. We were just hanging out, but hey, since you guys are here, do ya wanna try out that roller coaster?”

Kaede tilted her head to the side. “Huh? You haven’t been on it? I thought you guys were getting off just now.”

“Nah. We were going to, but we ended up getting-” Kaito glanced over to Teruteru for a moment. “-sidetracked for a bit. So, how ‘bout it?”

The offer was pretty tempting. First and foremost, any opportunity she had to hang out with her friends and help sow unity were precious for her, and this was no exception. Even if roller coasters weren’t particularly high on the list of things she liked doing at a park, being invited to go on one made it considerably more appealing. Secondly, it would still qualify as investigating, since Monokuma did say it was possible some clues were related to going on the rides. She could continue fulfilling her responsibilities while also getting to enjoy a bit of downtime with friends in one go. With that in mind, she had no reason to refuse. Kaede clasped her hands together. “That sounds great! I’d love to!”

Chiaki initially didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation, her gaze slowly trailing around the track as they conversed, but she spoke up just when Kaito turned to her. “... Sure.”

Despite the rather plain response, Kaito beamed happily. “Alright! Always wanted to go on one of these! Dibs on the front car! Come on guys!” He excitedly declared, turning and practically speed walking towards the line to get on.

“Hey, wait up!” Kaede called out with a smile at his childlike enthusiasm, her and the rest of the party following along at a much more casual pace.

Walking along beside her, Leon rubbed at his head uneasily. “Uh, hey… you seem like you’ve done this sort of thing before. Is it… nevermind.”

The blonde looked at him curiously. “Is it what?”

“Nothing; just forgot what I was saying, haha…” Leon blatantly lied, his forced smirk bordering on a grimace. After a moment, it clicked for Kaede.

“... Oh. Are you scared of roller coasters?”

Kuwata’s flinch confirmed it just as much as his exaggerated denial. “Wh- psh, of course not! What a lame thing to be scared of!”

Kaede offered a small shrug. “It’s alright if you are. Just between the two of us, I _ might _ be a little afraid of heights, so I can’t promise I won’t scream a _ lot _ on the drops. And, you don’t have to go on if you don’t want to, you know.”

Something flickered in the redhead’s expression, and after a moment, he pumped his fists in determination. “Nope; I ain’t backing out! I’m gonna kick this thing’s ass!”

“Ooh! I love the enthusiasm, Leon. Glad you’ll be joining us after all. And don’t worry; I’d be more than happy to hold you nice and tight if you get scared. Same for you, Kaede!” Teruteru quipped, earning simultaneous glares from both students.

“Like hell, Teruteru.” Kaede coldly rejected at the same time Leon scowled and spat, “Like hell, man!”

The two glanced at each other at the almost perfectly in-synch response while Teruteru gave a joking sigh. “Aw. I imagined getting double teamed by the two of you would be a little more fun than that.”

Akamatsu crossed her arms. “Teruteru…”

“I know, I know; I was just about out of jokes anyway.”

“Coulda fooled me…” Leon grumbled under his breath.

Kaede rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny she was having fun already. Their banter and the giddy mix of anxiousness and excitement for the ride had raised her spirits considerably from their earlier failure with the motive. It was comforting to know that whatever complications came before or after, she’d at least have this moment to enjoy.

“Come on, guys; hurry up!” Kaito called out from his spot in front of the waiting coaster cars, practically bouncing on his feet. There was a waist-high gate separating him from going on with a silent Monodam standing like a statue next to him, almost managing to seem expectant as the robot stared at the other Ultimates. “He says he won’t scan anyone individually!”

“BECAUSE-ROLLER-COASTERS-ARE-FOR-GETTING-ALONG. PLEASE, FORM-AN-ORDERLY-LINE-BEHIND-HIM-SO-WE-CAN-BEGIN.” The bear flatly replied. 

“Like you actually want anyone to get along…” Kaito scoffed, glowering at Monodam. His slanderous claim went unchallenged, however, Monodam simply bowing his head and waiting for the others to arrive. They didn’t take more than a few moments to catch up and group up as per their instructions, Monodam’s head snapping up the moment they were in position and instantly zapping Kaito’s wristband before scampering over and repeating the process for each of the others. Once Chiaki’s was registered, the gate flipped open, allowing them in. Kaito looked like he could explode from excitement as he practically leapt into the lead car. “Alright! Let’s do this, guys!”

“PLEASE-ENJOY-THIS-TERRIFYING-BONDING-EXPERIENCE.” Monodam wished, Kaede and company flat-out ignoring him as they each piled on. 

Once they all found a car for themselves, the safety bar descended over their chests and locked them in place, and the cars abruptly started pulling forward, much to Kaito’s cheering. Kaede could already feel her heart rattling in her chest, but in a contrast to the past several days, the sensation brought a genuine -if slightly nervous- smile to her face.

At least it’d be fun, even if it was terrifying.

***

Her predictions ended up coming truer than she expected.

First, as it turned out, Leon was _ very _ afraid of roller coasters, his (as Gonta put it) girlish screams serving as the soundtrack for the entire ride from the first drop forward. Teruteru proved to mostly be bluster as well, the chef’s accent slipping out more and more with each startled cry that accompanied each twist and turn. Kaede couldn’t talk much in that regard either, having let out her own stream of mixed yelps and laughs along the way, but she was only a little bit guilty at finding their reactions incredibly funny.

Secondly, despite said terror, it was _ amazing _. She’d gone on coasters before in life and usually only found them alright, but for some reason, it felt much more visceral than any experience had before. Maybe it was just a particularly fun ride, or maybe it was on account of experiencing death first-hand and thus gaining a new appreciation for rushes of life, but no matter the reasoning, the adrenaline coursing through her veins was almost addicting. She was almost sorry when the ride finally came to a stop, but her giddiness quickly overrode that. “Woo! That was great! We should go again!”

“Yeah! Let’s go for it!” Kaito enthusiastically declared only to be met with three refusals immediately. 

“Wh- no friggin’ way! Get me off of this thing before I have a heart attack!” Leon cried out, all but flopping out of the car the moment the safety bar let him escape.

“N-nah, ‘M good fer a while. Like, life, prolly…” A distinctly pale Teruteru muttered, pitifully fiddling with his wrecked pompadour and pulling his chef’s hat out of his pocket with a grimace.

Chiaki shrugged, looking completely unphased in contrast to her counterparts. “No thanks.”

Kaito put a hand on his hip. “Aw, c’mon! Are you sure? It-” All three dissenters nodded before he could even finish his sentence, making the Ultimate Astronaut blink before shrugging. “Alright, then, suit yourselves. Well, Kaede, we can give it another-”

“I-AM-SORRY, BUT-YOU-CANNOT.”

Kaede swiveled her head to the Monokub. “Huh? Why not?”

“FOR-SAFETY-REASONS, THE-RIDE-CANNOT-BE-RUN-WITH-LESS-THAN-FOUR-PEOPLE. IT-IS-ALSO-HARDER-TO-GET-ALONG-WITH-EVERYONE-IF-YOU-ONLY-MAKE-A-FEW-FRIENDS. I-AM-SORRY.”

“Seriously?!” Kaito bellowed out accusingly.

Monodam would not be rattled. “YES.”

Kaede frowned a little, crossing her arms with a pout. “Aww… oh well. Maybe we can manage it sometime else, at least.”

Monodam wrung his paws apologetically. “PLEASE-DO-NOT-BE-DISAPPOINTED. ALLOW-ME-TO-GRANT-YOU-A-GIFT-AS-COMPENSATION.”

That caught the attention of everyone present, Kaede’s momentary disappointment instantly replaced with curiosity and light suspicion. “Gift? What are you talking about?”

“RIDES-ALWAYS-OFFER-PICTURES. I-WILL-GIVE-YOU-THEM-FOR-FREE.”

Akamatsu was a little surprised that it was something so mundane, but come to think of it, it did make sense. She remembered having a few photos with her family from rides like these, and she thought there was some sort of flash during the initial drop, so it was far from impossible. She was sure she looked ridiculous in it, but that sounded a little fun in its own right, making her smile and nod as she stepped out of the ride. “Oh, okay. Sure, let’s see them!”

“As long as it got my good side, sure.” Leon said with a shrug.

Despite still looking worse for wear than usual, Teruteru managed to smirk. “A shot of us on the ride, huh? Well, any picture where everyone in it has their mouths wide open has at least a bit of merit…”

Kaede shot him a look, debating whether or not that one was explicit enough to bother calling him out over, but she didn’t get a chance to decide before Monodam leapt out of sight and the sound of a printer going off buzzed from the control station. He scurried out a few moments later with a stack of polaroids in hand, rushing over to each of the now-crowding students and slipping one into their waiting hands face down. Kaede accepted hers eagerly, flipping it over to see how silly they all must have looked…

… only to not be greeted by a shot of them on the roller coaster. Instead, she stared down with wide, confused eyes at herself, Shuichi, and Rantaro at some kind of picnic, each of them smiling brightly and waving at the camera. Written out along the bottom in neat, careful handwriting -_ her _ handwriting- were the words **“Gofer Project Farewell Picnic.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonta is, to quote CSpratt, "anime as fuck" at soccer, so much so that our poor swordswoman just couldn't compete. Well played, Team Luminary, but congratulations to Team Rockstar for the last minute turnaround!
> 
> Tunnel of... what? Damn Monokubs get in the way of everything, even when we're writing them...
> 
> Following up on a cliffhanger last time with a plot-important cliffhanger? How devilish of us! And what does it mean? We look forward to your theories! ;D
> 
> Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
> 
> -MrCynical


	26. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede and Chiaki continue their investigation, to unexpected results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuuper late, we know, but it's been a really busy month. But, we're ready now! After a month of work, we hope it's worth the wait! :D
> 
> -MrCynical and CSpratt

“... What…?”

For a long moment, Kaede didn’t know what to think. She could do nothing but stare down at the photograph in her hands in sheer incomprehension, unable to process what she was looking at. Her confusion was so encompassing that she likely would have been stuck in it for hours if it weren’t for the vivid reactions of her peers.

“Wh- hey! What the hell is this supposed to be?!” Kaito demanded through gritted teeth.

“Is this some kinda screwed up joke?!” Leon growled.

“Wh-wh- waddin’ da hell is d’is shit?!” Teruteru spat out.

Chiaki was the only one who didn’t immediately blurt something out, her reaction initially only showing in a silent widening of the eyes as her brow furrowed. “... Explain this.”

Shaken back to her senses by the others’ reactions, Kaede shook her head and looked at them wonderingly. “Wait, did you all get weird pictures too?”

“Weird? More like flat-out friggin’ fake!” Leon shouted out as he shoved a now slightly-creased photograph towards them. Kaede blinked, squinting her eyes to examine it. On it was Leon, Mondo, and a brown-haired boy grinning happily as Mondo ruffled the latter’s hair and caught the former in a loose headlock, a bright blue sky shining outside of a classroom in the background. Leon jabbed a finger against it roughly. “Seriously?! I never even met Mondo or that programmer chick before your stupid game! Do you think I’m stupid trying to pass something like this off?!”

“Y-yeah! Ah ain’ nevah met any a’ya folk ‘fore, an’ Ah damn sure nevah introduced ya t’ mama! So jus’ whatrarya tryin’ t’pull ‘here, huh?!” Teruteru clamored angrily, his accent coming out in full force as his small body trembled with anger. He was clutching the picture tightly to his chest, but it was obvious what the general gist of his ‘present’ was.

Kaede turned her own suspicious gaze to the robot as she pressed for information as well. “What are these? We clearly never took them, so stop messing with us and say something already!”

Monodam shrunk back from the harsh glares, almost seeming to sweat from the pressure. “BUT-YOU-DID. THESE-PICTURES-ARE-FROM-YOUR-PAST. FATHER-WENT-THROUGH-GREAT-LENGTHS-TO-PROCURE-THEM.”

“Don’t give us that vague crap! Stop lying and give us a real answer! Where did these really come from?!” Kaito snarled with a menacing step forward.

Unlike before, however, the green robot didn’t flinch away, staring directly into his lilac eyes in challenge. “I-DO-NOT-LIE. NOT-REMEMBERING-SOMETHING-IS-NOT-THE-SAME-AS-IT-NOT-HAPPENING.”

In an instant, the furious anger mounting against the Monokub suddenly slammed right back into them in the form of shock as the words sunk in. Kaede could feel the hair on the back of her neck flare in alarm at the scathing reminder of her unreliable memories, the photograph suddenly feeling much heavier in her hands. Her eyes moved down to it, trailing over her and Shuichi’s smiling faces before stopping over Rantaro’s eyes. He seemed to gaze into her very soul despite the friendly expression forever frozen on his face, holding a silent judgement that she couldn’t identify.

She couldn’t trust her memories. Not for certain, at least. Anything she recalled before waking up on the ship could be a lie, and if it weren’t for Chiaki, she would never have even suspected a difference. If she couldn’t be sure of something as important as that, then…

“... That doesn’t make any damn sense! If I knew any of those guys before all this crap, I woulda remembered it! ‘Not remembering doesn’t mean it didn’t happen’? What kinda stupid bullshit is that?!” Leon abruptly refused, sneering and clenching his fists.

“... But, we didn’t remember our murders when we got here, either,” Kaede reluctantly pointed out. Leon swerved, shocked realization already starting to overcome his stubborn anger by the time magenta eyes locked with pale blue. She crossed her arms uneasily, careful to avoid damaging the photo in her hands. “If we could forget that, then… are we really sure we didn’t take these pictures?”

Kaito grimaced. “Wh- Kaede, are you saying you think these are real?”

Akamatsu hated how worried he looked at that, but she wouldn’t walk it back. “I’m not saying that, but I’m saying we can’t rule it out for sure, either. I don’t know how, but-”

“Our memories,” Teruteru said to himself, gasping in realization. “Our memories! Monokuma said he wen’ an’ took two years a’ our memories! Issat when dis ‘appened?!”

Now it was his turn to be the center of attention, three very alarmed students and a suddenly attentive Chiaki looking to him instantly. “H-huh? Two years of- what are you talking about?! I wouldn’t forget something that goddamn important-” Leon started, freezing when he realized he’d _ already _ forgotten something of that weight and falling deathly silent. He gave an audible gulp a few moments later before slowly turning to Monodam. “... What… the fuck… is this.”

“A-REASON-TO-KILL. OR-TO-GET-ALONG. WHICHEVER-YOU-DECIDE-TO-DO.”

With those ominous words, Monodam sunk into the floor, leaving the five teens alone with their shocking revelations. No one spoke for a long moment, each too consumed by their own shock to speak, until Kaede finally broke the silence. “Two years forgotten, just like that…? I don’t want to believe it, but…”

“It doesn’t make any sense. I walked into that damn school, and then Monokuma showed up like an hour later. Two years…? How… how’s that supposed to make any sense…?” Leon muttered under his breath, seemingly oblivious to the other Ultimates around him as he tried to puzzle out what was going on.

Teruteru was in a similar state, the boy nervously crumpling his hands together. “Ah… ah don’t understand. Ah jus’ don’ get it…”

Chiaki kept quiet, wordlessly staring down at her picture with an unreadable expression. Doubtful she’d get the gamer to speak right now, the blonde turned her focus to the last man instead. “Kaito… you were around longer than me. Did something like this ever come up?”

Kaito cringed, looking away with an almost pained expression. “They never said anything about two years. But…”

“But what?” Kaede pressed anxiously.

“... But there were definitely things we didn’t remember until Monokuma wanted us to. Big things. Without the flashback lights, there was so much we couldn’t even imagine happening, and with how much of a blur there is right before the game started…” Momota trailed off once again, his knuckles cracking softly as he tightly balled a fist in frustration. “I don’t know.”

That was exactly what Kaede expected to hear, yet also what she truly hoped wasn’t the case. That same blur Momota described fogged her thoughts whenever she tried to remember how she got to the academy in the first place, and clearly whatever they found down the line was enough to cast that into suspicion. Kaede took a steadying breath, trying to gather her thoughts before they could spiral too far. “Okay… that’s something we need to get to the bottom of. Soon. I don’t know what this means either, but we have to be calm about this-”

“Calm?” Leon interrupted, looking at her as if she were the stupidest woman in the world. An almost manic chuckle escaped him despite his fierce expression. “I might not remember _ two frgging years _ of my life, and you’re telling me to be calm?! Screw that! I want answers, damn it!”

Kaede put up her hands to try to calm the increasingly unnerved athlete, but she wouldn’t get the chance to say anything before Chiaki gave a shockingly straightforward order. “... Leon? Please, stop it.”

Kuwata swerved towards the soft spoken girl immediately. “Excuse you?!”

Nanami didn’t flinch. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be mean. But, we’re all worried by this. Yelling at us isn’t going to make things easier. Even if it’s hard, Kaede’s right; we can only figure this out if we’re calm. So, that’s what we should do… I think.”

Leon glowered at Chiaki for a few moments, but Kaede could see contemplation dancing in his narrowed eyes until he let out a frustrated growl. “Damn it! I… no. You know what? I’m not dealing with this bullshit right now. I need some air.” He dismissed, shoving the photograph in his pocket and storming off without another word.

“Wh- hey! Where are you going?! Come on, man, get back here!” Kaito called out, concern and frustration clear on his face in equal measure.

“Actu’lly, A-Ah think Ah’mma ‘eadin’ out too. Need ta…” Teruteru trailed off, looking like he was trying to come up with something funny to say before simply sighing in defeat. “... be somewhere else fo’ lil’ while. Sorry guys…” He muttered as he shyly wandered off in vaguely the same direction as Leon, head low and seemingly locked on the photograph he was doing his best to hide.

Kaito’s dismay only grew at that. “Teruteru? You can’t be going too! We’ve got to talk about this!” He insisted, surging forward with an arm outstretched to catch the smaller boy, but before she knew what she was doing, Kaede quickly ran up to cut him off, much to his annoyance. “Huh? Kaede, what are you doing? I need to grab them so we-”

“Don’t, Kaito. Let them go for now.” Kaede said firmly.

The astronaut looked baffled and almost betrayed, narrowing his eyes as his teeth grit. “Why?!”

Truth be told, at first, Kaede couldn’t explain herself. She just felt an instinctual need to step in even though she was certain she would be in Kaito’s shoes if he hadn’t been the one to press the issue first. Maybe it was simply getting to see it from somewhat of an outsider’s perspective, but her mind abruptly flashed to her earlier conversation with Tsumugi, a grimace crossing her features even as her resolve grew. “Because they aren’t ready to listen yet. Trust me, I want to help them too, but right now, they’re too freaked out. Things’ll just get worse if you push too hard. Remember how things were with Mondo at first? Or even just with Leon yesterday?”

Momota’s lips thinned at first, slowly slipping into a frown as he thought over what she was saying. “I get what you’re saying, but I can’t just leave them hanging like that. If they’re that freaked out, it’s my job to help them out.”

“And we will,” Akamatsu reassured with absolute genuineness, her expression softening. “Just as soon as we actually can. You know Leon pretty well, and I know Teruteru. I’m positive they’ll come to us when they’re ready. We just have to be there when they are. Alright?”

The purple-clad man was silent for a beat. At last, a disappointed sigh signalled his concession. “You’re right. I’ll let it be for now. I’m just so sick of these damn bears messing everything up all the time. It’s like they’ve got something new to hit us with every time we start getting somewhere.”

“Tell me about it,” Kaede said ruefully before giving a frail but supportive smile. “They suck, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. That’s what heroes and sidekicks do, right?”

His smile reassured her as much as her words did for him. “Of course we’ve got this. The Luminary of the Stars only picks the best, after all,” Kaito agreed, a bit of his usual pep returning to him. “What about you, Chiaki? Are you good to keep going?”

Nanami had returned to staring down at the picture, but was apparently paying more attention than she let on. “Yeah. These things are definitely strange, but I’m good. Probably.”

The maestro wanted to scold Chiaki for downplaying her convictions yet again, but she held her tongue long enough for Kaito to change the topic. “Good. Well, if that’s the plan, do you mind if I tag along with you guys? I don’t have a whole lot going on for a while.”

Kaede’s optimistic feelings came to a screeching halt. That… was very much a problem. There was no way Kaede and Chiaki could take the time needed to look for evidence if Kaito was hanging around, let alone discuss their findings. They’d either have to completely derail their investigation or let Kaito in on what was going on, and neither was even _ close _ to being an option for Kaede. As dear a friend as he’d become, the fewer people that knew about her situation, the better.

Which meant, of course, that she had to make up an excuse to politely turn him down.

“Ah… sorry, Kaito. It’s kind of like a girl’s day out thing, you know? We were fine just stopping for the coaster, but-”

Kaito clicked his tongue in understanding. “Ah, I gotcha. Sometimes guys just wanna be guys. Makes sense the same goes for girls, too,” Kaito waved off with a shrug, smiling with a thumbs up. “No problem! You guys have fun; I’ll see if anyone else can hang out. Just promise you’re not gonna start going full Tenko on me from here on out, alright?”

Kaede scoffed, smirking playfully as she returned the tease. “No promises, degenerate.”

Momota gave a wave, laughing heartily. “Sheesh. Guess I’d better get going then. See you guys!”

“Bye, Kaito! See you later!” Kaede bid farewell as he got on his way, waving and waiting until she was certain he was out of earshot before she let out a soft sigh and looked over towards Chiaki. “... So, what do you think this means?”

Chiaki finally looked away from her picture, subtly slipping it into her pocket as she shrugged. “I don’t really know. Monokuma already told us he took our memories, at least in my game, but I’m not sure what these pictures really say other than proving it happened.”

Kaede felt a lump begin to form in her throat, her eyes slowly drifting back to her own photograph. “... Two years... “ She murmured softly, a cold discomfort crawling over her shoulders. “It doesn’t make any sense. I mean, it does, but… really? I met Shuichi and Rantaro before the killing game, and I don’t even remember? When? How? Why didn’t any of us remember each other?” Akamatsu questioned aloud as much to herself as Chiaki, voice growing more aggravated with each question until her gaze flicked to potentially the most confusing part of the photograph. “... And what the heck is the Gofer Project?”

“... Looks like there’s more things to figure out with everything else.” Nanami non-answered. 

Kaede frowned at her vagueness, but given the situation, she knew it wouldn’t be fair to expect the gamer to have any more information than her, leaving her stuck in a fruitless frustration. She didn’t move for a few moments, blankly gazing at the photograph as if she’d magically find answers in it after it gave her nothing but confusion, until she finally thinned her lips and carefully stashed it away in her backpack. “Great… well, then, we shouldn’t waste time. Let’s go.”

With a nod from the Ultimate Gamer, the two women wandered off to their next point of interest, Kaede silently cursing how many more mysteries her search for answers had brought her.

***

It wasn’t very long before they arrived at one of the few sites Kaede had yet to investigate. The building Kaede could only assume to be the funhouse stood like a monolith above every other structure in sight, the giant, bizarrely painted clocktower making the blonde feel small as she stared up at it in awe. “Woah… this place is huge.”

“... It’s different.” Chiaki noted neutrally. She didn’t say anything further, only examining the building with a silent frown as Kaede conducted her own brief analysis. 

She didn’t have any basis for what the funhouse was ‘supposed’ to look like, but the structure before her was certainly different from what she’d been expecting. It was definitely more colorful than a traditional building, but it was perhaps less outlandish in design than she’d expected from the name; though there didn’t seem to be a traditional entrance and instead had some sort of large dark blue carnival tent concealing whatever waited just behind the flaps, the building rising from the other side of the tent looked almost normal compared to the eccentric architecture found in much of the park. It was so average-looking, in fact, that Kaede couldn’t help but wonder about the supposedly strange interior Tsumugi had mentioned. Was the normal exterior supposed to throw them off?

Well, there was one easy way to solve that mystery.

Pulling up on the straps of her backpack, Kaede took an assertive step forward. “Well, if there’s anything important in there, we won’t find it waiting out here. Let’s see what’s inside.”

Chiaki nodded and followed Kaede’s lead as the musician pushed the tent flaps aside and entered the structure. Immediately, Kaede found herself confronted by what looked like _ dozens _ of splitting hallways waiting just ahead, her eyes widening in disbelief. _ “Wh-what? How are there this many halls if the tent… wait,” _ She cut herself off as the impossibility of what she was seeing stirred a glanced-over memory to the forefront of her mind. _ “Oh, right. Tsumugi said there was a hall of mirrors at the start. If that’s the case, then there’s probably only a couple actual routes, right…?” _

That was certainly what she hoped, at least. Between the seemingly endless rows of mirrors, the glossy black floors, and the bluish lights basking everything in an almost icy glow, the room had an almost otherworldly feeling to it that left a slight feeling of unease creeping over her. She would not be deterred, however, pushing those doubts off to the side and marching to the center of the room. Upon closer inspection, she could see there looked to be three small arrows that each pointed to one of the infinitely spiraling doorways of mirrors, and a couple quick waves of her hand confirmed that the spaces it directly pointed towards were all legitimate entryways into whatever boggling maze Monokuma designed, in turn giving her three possible directions to pursue.

“So we have to go in from either the east, west, or north then…” She noted, assuming they were indeed still facing the starboard side of the ship. Kaede cupped her chin in thought. “Okay… I know you said your funhouse didn’t have something like this, but do you have any guesses where any of these go?”

Nanami studied the arrows for a moment before slowly shaking her head. “... No, sorry. If Monokuma changed the layout this much, I’m not sure how much this place has in common with mine.”

“Worth a shot, at least,” Kaede shrugged, looking between the pathways uncertainly and raising a finger towards them. “Well then, we’ll just pick one and see what we find. So… C-E-G, E-G-C, G-C-E, C-E-G, you’re the one it’s going to be!” Her finger stopped directly over the middle path in time with her impromptu rhyme, the will of causality making their path clear. “Looks like we’re going with that one. Ready?”

“Yep,” Chiaki confirmed, casually strolling over and taking a hold of Kaede’s wrist. The ex-pianist gave her a confused look at the uncharacteristic contact, but Nanami was quick to explain before she could verbally question it. “We should stick close. It’d be pretty easy to get lost in here, I think.”

Kaede gave a soft ‘ah’ of understanding, allowing the other girl to keep a hold of her as they walked forward into the pathway. Countless other Chiakis and Kaedes instantly came up to greet them the moment they did so, the reflections suddenly surrounding them like they were in the eye of a storm of illusions. It was a touch disorientating, the musician nearly walking directly into one of the mirrors while she was busy trying to look for an opening, but narrowly managed to keep from making a fool out of herself as her foot bumped into it before her face could. “G-geez…!”

“Try running your hand along the wall. If both of us do that, we’ll have an easier time figuring out which way’s clear, I think.” Nanami suggested, a quick glance confirming that she was already doing it with her spare hand. Seeing as how she was pressing up against her reflection and Kaede almost smacked her face into one directly ahead, she tentatively reached out to the right and found open air waiting for her. Sure enough, taking a couple steps towards it incurred no penalties, proving that was the way to go.

That strategy worked well enough for a time. Though she bumped her hand against the panes more often than she was comfortable with considering her phobia, they were able to keep a decently fast pace through the maze, which was definitely preferable to wandering around aimlessly. Kaede felt awkward in the silence that fell over them in the maze, but couldn’t think of anything to talk about, too preoccupied by keeping track of her surroundings and what they could potentially find within the building. At least Nanami didn’t seem to mind it, the girl seemingly unphased by the quiet.

However, just a couple minutes into the maze, something -be it Monokuma’s direct intervention or remarkably bad luck- saw it fit to pull the rug out from under them.

Kaede didn’t see what it was, but in the middle of a step, she suddenly felt her foot connect with something and throw her off balance, sending her tumbling forward out of Nanami’s weak grip. “Wh- ah!” She yelped, hitting the floor with a harsh grunt. The impact sounded a little louder than it should have, but that was the last thing on her mind as the sharp ache already flaring up in her elbows made her grimace. “Ow…” She groaned, pulling herself up to her feet. “What the heck was that?”

The silence she received in turn was odd even for her slow-speaking companion, Kaede crossing her arms in slight annoyance. “Oh, I’m fine, Chiaki. Thanks for… Chiaki?”

As she turned to scold the Ultimate Gamer, however, she was startled to find the girl in question wasn’t behind her. Instead, her own puzzled expression stared back at her in a mirror she was _ positive _ hadn’t been there a moment ago. “What…? Chiaki? Where are you?” She called out. More silence was the only response she received. Her heartbeat ticked up. “Chiaki? Can you hear me?”

Silence still. Kaede raised a hand and banged on the mirror, but it was in vain, earning nothing but a couple dull _ thunks _ for her efforts. She stopped once it became obviously fruitless, a cross between a groan and a sigh escaping her as her shoulders slumped. _ “Great. Figures something would happen to split us up... hopefully Chiaki’s alright, at least. I doubt Monokuma would hurt her directly. But, where is she?” _ Kaede thought to herself with a frown, her gaze slowly scanning across the chamber she suddenly found herself in. “... and where am I?”

Cautiously, Akamatsu began advancing further into the maze. Her steps became slow and careful compared to her earlier pace, paying more mind both to where she was going and the images that surrounded her. The reflections were fairly minor at first, initially starting off as perfect images that seemed to infinitely repeat amongst the sea of duplicates. As she went deeper, however, it became easier to notice how the images seemed to begin to warp. One mirror she walked past caught her eye from the sudden shift of color that flashed in the corner of her eye, Kaede turning sharply to find an unusually stout version of herself giving her the same suspicious glare.

It made her roll her eyes, but if it and the other altered reflections that first appeared, she likely wouldn’t have given it more than a passing thought. It was nothing beyond the standard illusions she’d seen at normal funhouses in her childhood after all. One showing her as incredibly tall, another stick thin, and so one were beyond tame compared to most things in the park to the point that she made the mistake of letting her guard down ever so slightly.

That was just enough to make her vulnerable.

After some time, the strange designs in the mirrors stopped… but that’s not to say they returned to normal. Rather, the glass gradually began to tint more and more until it had become pitch black, changing so slowly that she didn’t even notice until she suddenly found herself surrounded by darkness. Kaede glanced around warily every few moments but pushed forward, pretending she couldn’t feel her heart begin to speed up more and more with every step into the blanketing shadows. The path became much clearer without endless mirages, but that was a cold comfort when she could see just how alone she was.

It couldn’t have been more than a minute, but it felt like an eternity before the path suddenly came to a dead end. Left, right, and center was pure darkness. Kaede tapped each side to find glass waiting for her, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Huh…? It’s all blocked off…? Then where the heck am I supposed to go?” She complained aloud, glancing around for any sign of what to do. Sure, mazes had some dead ends, but there hadn’t been any turns beside the ones she went down. Where was she supposed to-

Abruptly, a flash of light split the darkness to her left with the harsh _ thlunk _ of a spotlight turning on, the musician swiveling on her heels to face it even as she instinctively held up a hand to block out the sudden brightness. She took an unintentional step back, pressing herself against the opposite mirror, grimacing as her eyes adjusted. Once she could bring herself to stop squinting, she slowly let her hand down, taking in the sight before her with widening eyes.

The reflection was as clear as the first several she’d encountered, the blue light a touch brighter and deeper in color than before but bathing its subject in a pale glow all the same. The subject in question was Kaede, of course, but… not. Kaede’s expression knitted in bewilderment as she took in her reflection. 

The detail that immediately stood out as wrong was that this was most definitely _ not _ reflecting her true image, the clothing of the supposed mirror image being all wrong. In place of her trademark pink vest, white dress shirt and orange tie was a rather plain-looking dark blue sailor uniform with a crimson scarf tied into a bow across the center. It looked respectable if very nondescript, almost identical to the sort of uniforms she’d occasionally seen girls from other schools wearing, but she’d definitely never worn anything like it before, let alone right that moment as the mirror implied.

The second thing wrong with it was far subtler, but much more unnerving. There was no disputing that the girl in the mirror held the spitting image of her physically, yet there seemed to be something almost... lifeless about it, as if she were staring at an eerily lifelike doll rather than herself. The reflection’s eyes bored unseeingly back into her own, hollow and cold with her lips pressed into a thin, firm frown. An air of gloom resonated from this version of her not unlike the one she’d often sensed from Maki, something so at odds with the maestro’s peppy personality that it felt vividly _ wrong _ to see in herself. Even her hair somehow seemed duller, her signature ahoge looking as if it were curled lower. 

“What the hell…?” Kaede murmured, reading it on her own lips as the reflection mimed it in real time. Her head tilted, and so the reflection’s did as well, proving it wasn’t merely some weird projection of her. It was so close to perfect, yet so completely wrong by the same measure. She looked herself up and down in the mirror for any sign of what in the world was going on, but there was nothing she could find beyond what she’d already identified, thickening the mystery further. Some of her confusion started to turn to aggravation, the blonde narrowing her eyes dangerously at the reflection. “Knock it off, Monokuma! I don’t know what this stupid trick is supposed to mean, but it’s not-”

Another _ thlunk _ sounded from behind her, the dour picture of herself disappearing back into the endless black as the light above it went out and forced Kaede to turn around and face a new illusion. Her eyes didn’t need to adjust this time, allowing her to instantly take in the figure before her.

The pale blue light had been swapped for a deep, strangely familiar orange tint this time, making the reflection’s blonde hair glow like a bonfire on a moonless night. At a glance, Kaede thought it might have been a normal reflection besides the light. She was in the right outfit this time, at least. Something that was definitely wrong, however, was the suspicious, hateful glare framed by a deep scowl on her face. Kaede felt a chill run up her spine under the harsh purple eyes of her doppelganger as she fought the urge to step back from the image, clenching her fists to hold her nerve as she analyzed her reflection.

Upon closer examination, this Kaede was a mess. Despite her bitter glower, it was almost impossible to ignore the dark bruising around her eyes that served to highlight the reddish tint of her bloodshot eyes. Her hair was wild and unkempt, the frazzled ends of it tickling at a painful-looking welt along her neck. Patches of dried blood speckled her face and tattered clothes, a thick blanket of crimson coating her left hand in particular as both of them threateningly clenched into fists. It was horrific to look at; a twisted embodiment of all the sins beared upon her shoulders. 

Despite the traces of fear bubbling below the surface, her frustration with this trickery was even more palpable. Akamatsu scowled right back at the reflection, shoving an accusing finger at it as it did the same to her. “I’m not falling for it! I know this isn’t real, so stop wasting my time already!”

For a long moment, nothing happened, Kaede glaring into her own warped reflection out of spite for Monokuma and his sickening sense of humor without another word or indication of giving in. Just as her already thin patience for this nonsense began to run out, the light suddenly died out, the figment vanishing alongside it and once again leaving Kaede isolated. The once-pianist held her tongue, wordlessly crossing her arms as she debated whether she should just save herself the headache and turn back right then and there. If this was some gambit to keep her off the trail of her investigation, then Monokuma would be sorely disappointed to find just how stubborn she was.

At last, the orange light abruptly flicked off, nothing but darkness surrounding her once more. Kaede was taken slightly off guard by the turn of events, but her skepticism edged out her surprise, waiting with narrowed eyes for the final shoe to drop. It came a moment later when she suddenly found herself engulfed in pitch blackness as the lights above and behind her suddenly went out as well, a startled gasp escaping her. “Wh-what the hell?! Turn the lights back on!” She demanded, her chest beginning to throb from the fear. A beat passed, and then another, and then there was finally one last _ thlunk _ as the third and final spotlight burst to life from the center mirror.

Unlike the previous two, the final image was difficult to make out. She was fairly certain it was a woman’s build roughly the same size as herself, but it was almost completely bathed in shadow by the ominous blood red light blaring out from behind it, practically rendering it as a silhouette aside from the very edges. It looked more like an unnatural void of light than an actual person. Kaede felt yet another spike of fear run through her as she stared at the unnatural creature before her, but it wasn’t willpower that kept her from running away from it this time. It felt as if her legs were simply incapable of moving, frozen in place. The closest thing she could compare the sensation to was one of Celeste’s harrowing glares towards the end of her trial, but far worse, as if something had grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air, completely unable to do anything but look at it or perish.

For several seconds, she did nothing but stand there, a deathly silence overtaking the maze. Slowly, almost unnoticeably at first, the so-called reflection lifted its arm despite Kaede’s being frozen by her sides until its feminine hand was outstretched towards her. Unsettling as the figure was, the gesture seemed almost… friendly. Her palm was up in a way that suggested she was offering a helping hand rather than trying to grab the blonde, the same encouraging body language Kaede had used on friends in need time and time again. To be on the receiving end of it in her current situation gave an odd sense of reassurance despite coming from the same thing filling her with worry.

“H-Hello…?” She called out hesitantly. The figure said nothing, wordlessly watching Kaede, her hand still patiently waiting to be taken. Akamatsu glanced around as best she could without letting the stranger out of her sight. Pure nothingness surrounded her everywhere but dead ahead, the entity being the only reprieve from the overwhelming darkness. Without realizing it, she found herself taking a small step forward. Soon, another. Though slowly, Kaede found herself steadily beginning to approach the shadow, hesitantly raising her hand to meet the other girl’s. “Who are you…? Kirumi? Peko? Is that you?”

As she got within arm’s length, the figure’s features became clearer. Kaede blinked as she found herself staring back at her own face framed by two large pigtails, the duplicate flashing her a broad, friendly smile with her eyes closed. Even despite being a fake, it might have been at least momentarily reassuring if her closed eyes didn’t snap open to reveal a pair of pale, piercing blue eyes that narrowed with cruel intent as the smile became menacing. Kaede abruptly stopped in her tracks, reeling back in alarm. “What the-?!”

Suddenly, what was _ supposed _ to only be an illusion shot forward and latched onto Kaede’s wrist, Kaede letting out a scream as she was harshly yanked forward towards her doppelganger. She threw her left arm out in front of her on instinct, preparing to collide into her attacker. The world was consumed by the darkness within those pale blue eyes as she came closer and closer towards the monstrous version of herself and-

Kaede hit the floor with a harsh smack, a pained hiss slipping past her lips as she once again crashed down on her knees and elbows. The pain that immediately ached in all of them meant very little compared to her pounding heart as Akamatsu quickly skitted to her feet and threw her fists up in preparation for another attack. “Wh-who the hell are- huh?” She frantically demanded, swerving as she tried to find her attacker. To her great shock, however, the thing that had grabbed her not even a few seconds prior had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Kaede’s eyes became the size of dinner plates as she flicked her head around in every direction for any sign of where they went, but that only produced its own mysteries.

First, she wasn’t in the maze anymore. Turning around to where the doppelganger should have been showed a doorway that clearly contained the maze, the endless rows of black glass inexplicably replaced by the normal mirrors from the start of the illusionary corridor. She could even see her own baffled expression being reflected on some of them from where she stood, not a trace of the unnatural darkness to be found.

Secondly, if that wasn’t bizarre enough, her frantic glances around the room showed that she’d ended up in a completely different hallway. It was a decent bit wider and taller than the tight corridors of the maze, pale white lights shining from the ceiling like sunlight through a cloud cover. The walls were solid and smooth, almost looking like plastic with its sky blue coloring, but the room was otherwise completely non-descript, with nothing in it at all except for a pair of steel doors waiting at the end of the passage about thirty feet from where Kaede was standing. The blonde’s eyebrows pinched in confusion.

_ “What the hell…? I don't understand; where did they go? Someone definitely grabbed me, but they wouldn’t have been able to run into the maze without trampling over me, and there’s no way someone could have gotten all the way to that door fast enough that I wouldn’t see them,” _ She puzzled. There was no sign of anyone being here in the immediate past nor was there anywhere to hide in the barren hall, making her duplicate’s disappearance all the stranger. Kaede looked down where she’d been grabbed. There was no wrinkling or anything of the sort from the harsh grip, the sleeve of her dress shirt the same as ever. _ “... I couldn’t have just imagined that, right? I’m sure I felt something grab me. But… that entire thing was impossible. Mirrors can’t do something like that. Even if that was some crazy projector, Monokuma couldn’t fake something like that touch, could he…?” _

Kaede grit her teeth. Yet another mystery she couldn’t even begin to try answering. It was beyond frustrating to find the list of uncertainties growing larger and larger even still, but there wasn’t a thing she could do about it for now. _ “Damn it… fine, then. Whatever it was, I can’t figure it out just standing around. I might as well see what this place is and try to find Chiaki before anything else.” _

Without many other options, Kaede carefully started advancing towards the end of the chamber, wary of any more potential surprises. Now that her heart was beginning to slow and she wasn’t absorbed by her thoughts, she noticed she could faintly hear an inconsistent rhythm echoing through the hall that seemed to originate from up ahead. Muffled thuds rang out from the doors, sometimes softer and in rapid succession, other times harder and alone or in pairs. It wasn’t like anything Kaede had ever heard before, fueling her curiosity and drawing her closer to investigate the source.

When she reached the doors, she carefully opened one to peek inside, and was confronted with an alarming sight so fast-paced that she didn’t even have time to react.

Before her was a large circular room the same color as the previous hall with a much higher ceiling and a pair of opposing doors on the left and right side with images of grapes and strawberries respectively. Far more concerning was the fact that the atrium-like room was currently serving as a temporary coliseum for the battle going on within it. In the center of the room stood Sakura hunched in a defensive stance that gave her an almost animalistic appearance, a hulking statue of concentrated muscle that radiated power. That would have been out of place enough on its own, given her usually gentle demeanor, but it was hardly noteworthy given the other occupant of the room. Charging directly towards her at an inhuman pace was Peko, her head bowed low with her sword in hand and ready to strike. It was hardly a second later that the Ultimate Swordswoman was upon Sakura and swung the weapon at her, the martial artist deftly catching it between her palms with a thunderous _ thwack _ before slamming it to the ground with enough force that it ripped it from Pekoyama’s grasp before thrusting her arm straight into the area below Peko’s chest, launching her into the air towards the wall.

Peko was not deterred, however, as while her weapon clattered uselessly to the floor to Sakura’s right, she was already in the midst of recovering from the launch, angling her legs to launch herself off of the wall and back towards Ogami. She sprung like a pouncing panther the moment her feet touched something solid, and at first, it looked like she’d miscalculated the angle, as she was set to more or less fly face-first into the floor at high velocity. However, just as quickly as she’d rearranged herself to make the launch in the first place, she hunched herself into a curl that smoothly transitioned into a roll once her shoulders touched the floor. In one fluid motion, Peko bowled past Sakura, grabbed her sword off the floor, and delivered a damning slash across Sakura’s chest just as she turned to face her attacker.

A sharp gasp escaped Kaede, her hands flying to her mouth in shock as she stared in wide-eyed horror. _ “Ohmygod, no, please, no,” _ Kaede frantically pleaded in her mind, her blood turning ice-cold as she realized what she just witnessed. It wouldn’t be more than a millisecond before the slice erupted into dark red, and not long after that before she would fall to the ground dead and-

“... Hmph. Well struck. I’d say that’s a point to you.” Sakura hummed, a faint smile playing at her lips.

Peko rose from her crouch with a nod, lowering her sword to her side. “Agreed. At least we’re even, then.”

Kaede stared uncomprehendingly, her horror replaced by bafflement as she watched the two women she’d just seen trying to kill each other chatting amicably. Even more confusingly was how Sakura was talking at all when she’d just been cut from… _ “... Oh, right. Peko’s sword isn’t sharp at all...” _ Akamatsu belatedly remembered, embarrassed to have let that detail slip her mind in her panic. Silly as she felt, she was certainly glad to be wrong, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she put a hand over her still-pounding heart. Deciding it would be best to announce herself rather than wait to be spotted (and partly out of shame for eavesdropping on both women at different points already), Kaede took the opportunity to step into the room and greet the pair. “Oh, hey, guys!”

The warriors turned to her, a hint of surprise flashing across their expressions before instantly fading in favor of their considerable masks of stoicism. “Hello, Kaede,” Sakura greeted, bowing her head. Peko gave a more curt nod of acknowledgement as Ogami continued. “It’s a surprise to see you here. I thought you were meeting with Chiaki.”

Kaede frowned slightly. “Well, we were, but we got separated in the maze. I just stumbled across you guys trying to find her again,” The musician clarified, earning an understanding hum from the martial artist. Fueled by curiosity, she subtly turned the question around a moment later. “Though I’m kind of surprised, too. I didn’t think I’d run into anyone else here. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you guys doing?”

“Sparring. I asked if Sakura would be willing to do battle with me, and she agreed.” Peko instantly replied as she sheathed her sword and crossed her arms.

Despite being a rather clear and concise answer, it left Kaede a touch surprised. _ “That explains why they were fighting, but…” _ She tilted her head to the side slightly. “Huh? Why?”

Peko apparently expected the follow-up question as she delivered her explanation without hesitation. “Though I’ve trained under many capable warriors and fought off twice as many, it is rare that I find someone of equal skill to practice against. Furthermore, I’ve never had the opportunity to spar with someone talented enough to be considered an Ultimate. It seemed like it would be a valuable experience to see how our capabilities compare. And, less uniquely, it’s simply best to keep in peak form through intensive training, especially in our current situation.”

“Ah, that makes sense. With how rare Ultimates are, having the chance to fight one would be pretty cool if you were into that sort of thing. Kaito said something like that about his training, too… though he’d probably end up nagging you into doing pushups with him if he knew you felt the same way.” Kaede teased with a fond smirk.

Unfortunately, her joke seemed to fall flat, Peko’s lips pressing into a thin line at the remark. “He’s already attempted that several times, but I have no plans to join. Though I don’t want to sound cruel, I am only comfortable training with those who have fully earned my trust. He hasn’t managed that yet.”

“Ah… that’s fair,” Akamatsu conceded, trying to conceal a wince. Considering how close Kaito was getting to Peko, if she still didn’t trust him enough for something small like working out together, the road to getting on friendly terms with the swordswoman suddenly seemed much longer. After a moment, though, she realized an unspoken message in what the swordswoman had said. _ “...! Hang on a second! If that’s the case, then-” _

“So then… I’ve earned your trust?” Sakura said what Kaede was thinking, her tone neutral with the slightest hint of inquisitivity.

Peko didn’t respond at first, her gaze slowly shifting between Kaede and Sakura as an indeterminable debate played out behind her sharp red eyes. “... Before this, you hadn’t,” She ultimately admitted. “I must admit that I wasn’t fully honest about my reasoning for this fight. Though those were also things I’d considered, the true reason I challenged you to this fight was to determine whether you were worthy of my trust. I wished to see your **true self**.”

“True self…?” Kaede muttered under her breath. Uninvited memories of the twisted illusions from earlier jumped back to the forefront of her mind, the blonde quickly shaking her head to banish the thoughts. No; those were just stupid tricks Monokuma was playing on her. She wouldn’t let that nonsense distract her from the conversation at hand.

Sakura seemed to be intensely curious about Peko’s admission, her expression becoming very solemn as her posture straightened. “... What did you find?”

“That you are exactly who you present yourself to be.” Pekoyama stated with absolute certainty. “When you fight, there’s nothing dishonest in your movements. Though you’re difficult to read, there’s a reliability in your style; your strikes are consistently honorable even when a more underhanded maneuver would have been more tactically sound. Your preference for offense shows a great bit of courage as well. Not many people would be willing to risk blocking a strike from my sword when dodging is an option, let alone attempt to disarm me in the process. No coward would do such things. Though I was uncertain of you before, after seeing that, I am convinced.”

Kaede stared at her, a sense of both amazement and bewilderment filling her at the silver-haired warrior’s detailed insight from seemingly very little, but she didn’t have time to ask for an explanation before Sakura responded. “I see… you honor me. I’m uncertain if that faith is earned, but it is appreciated,” Ogami thanked sincerely, bowing her head gratefully. Her eyes were closed, but she slid one open after a moment, a lone silver eye steadfastly meeting a pair of piercing red. “Should you want to hear them, I made some observations of you as well.”

It was only for the briefest of moments, but Kaede was positive she saw the Ultimate Swordswoman flinch at the words before instantly correcting herself into neutrality. “I would. However I can improve, it’s vital I hear it as soon as I can.”

_ “Is that because of your own interest, or does this have to do with whatever you were talking about with Gonta…?” _ Kaede subconsciously noted.

Her musings would once again have to wait, however, as Sakura was more than willing to share her take on bodyguard. “Very well. As we sparred, I noticed something in how you carry yourself in a fight. Your sword is bamboo, but that only means that it cannot stab or slash, not that it is harmless, especially when used on the weakest areas of the body. I could tell you were identifying pressure points every time you prepared an attack… yet, you never followed through on it. You could easily have struck at them and delivered a debilitating -or, perhaps even lethal- blow. Each time, you chose not to and struck somewhere else knowing it would be a less effective attack,” Sakura calmly explained, totally unphased by the concept of her own death as her other eye slowly opened and locked on Pekoyama. “In other words, you’re holding back because you know the damage you could do otherwise. Despite that knowledge giving you countless methods to commit a murder, you intentionally stay your hand. Though I never doubted your words, that alone assures me you have no intention of harming anyone aboard so long as you have a choice. For that, you can consider that trust mutual.”

A profound silence fell over the room, Peko’s eyes widening in surprise before slowly closing. “... Thank you. I will do everything in my power not to let that trust be misplaced.”

Sakura bowed her head. “And I shall do the same.”

Kaede stared between the two warriors in a mixture of awe and bewilderment. “... How can you guys tell all that just from fighting?” She accidentally wondered aloud, putting her hands up and clarifying defensively when she realized her mistake. “D-don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing! And I’m really glad you two are so close now! I’m... just a little confused.”

Peko thinned her lips uncertainly. “... It is… difficult, to explain to someone that doesn’t know. I’m unsure how to put it in a way you would understand.”

“Perhaps I could explain it,” Sakura rumbled, closing her eyes in thought. After a few moments, she seemed to figure out how to phrase it. “... Kaede, would you say you could tell much from a person based on how they play a song?”

The blonde nodded affirmingly. “Definitely. The kind of song they play, what notes they focus on, the passion and confidence they put into it… I could probably figure out a lot of what their personality is like just from things like that.”

“It is similar to that. Just as your years of studying and performing music have taught you that, studying combat gives a certain insight into people from how they fight. Offensive or defensive, a preference in how or where they strike, how they adapt to your own tactics, the look in their eyes… all of these serve to paint a picture of who a person is. In normal situations, people can lie about their nature, but when they put their all into combat, that is when their true selves shine the brightest.”

Peko nodded in agreement while Kaede reflected on the information. “Huh… it seemed a little strange at first, but when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense. To be able to get such a good grasp of someone from that is pretty cool, actually,” The musician mused, intrigued by the concept. Considering the idea, though, her mind couldn’t help but wander to a face from her past. “... I wonder if Tenko had something like that.”

Ogami looked at her curiously. “Hm. A fighter you know, I assume?”

“Oh, right. Tenko’s the Ultimate Aikido Master. We shared a game together. Apparently, she was so good that she created her own fighting style called Neo-Aikido. She could be a little much, but I thought she was really cool.” Kaede explained, a small smile playing at her lips as she remembered Chabashira’s antics.

Sakura gained an impressed look. “If she holds the dedication to her craft needed to invent an artform, I am certain she is capable of the same. Mastering an art is impressive on its own, but to have made her own… the concept intrigues me. I would be honored to observe her in action, someday.”

Kaede’s smile slowly faded away, a somber frown taking its place. “... Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. From what Kaito told me, she’s… gone.”

Realization lit in Sakura’s silver eyes. “... I see. My condolences.”

Kaede silently nodded in thanks, silence once again overtaking the trio. It was never easier for Kaede to remember how many of the friends she gave her life for were lost and gone, especially when it had only been a week since she’d seen many of them as far as she remembered. It took a conscious effort to ignore that she knew _ exactly _ who slew Chabashira as well.

After a beat, Peko chose to break the somber silence. “... I believe we’ve had an adequate break. Are you ready to resume our duel, Sakura?”

The silver-haired warrior nodded slowly. “Yes, that would be for the best,” She agreed, cracking her neck in preparation as she flicked her gaze back to the intruder. “Though if both of you are willing, I wouldn’t be opposed to you watching us fight, Kaede.”

The ex-pianist didn’t expect that. “Huh?”

“When we first met, you mentioned you would be interested in watching me in a fight. Though I understand you might have other obligations, now seems like a good time to accept that request,” Sakura reminded, amending the statement after a moment. “... so long as Peko holds no issues with it.”

The Ultimate Swordswoman considered it for a moment, her piercing red eyes slowly scanning over Kaede. “... I suppose there’s no reason to object. You said something similar to me as well, as I recall. Since you’ll be keeping your distance, I can allow this.”

Kaede clasped her hands together eagerly. “If you’re sure it’s alright, I’d love to! I’m sure it’ll be awesome!” She happily agreed, caught up in the moment. A second later, however, some more pressing matters came back to the forefront of her mind. “... But, do you think Chiaki will be alright wandering around here?”

Sakura gave a soft hum. “Ah, yes, I’d almost forgotten. Though your concern for her is admirable, I don’t believe there is any express danger to us here. Our separation was rather temporary, but Tsumugi and I each ended up isolated from each other for a period as well. Not long enough to mention during the meeting, but aside from some **strange illusions**, neither of us encountered anything dangerous on our own or during the rest of our search together. Confusing and irritating as it might be, I don’t believe it’s anything more than a mere attraction.”

_ “‘Strange illusions’? So they must have seen whatever was up with those mirrors, too…” _ Kaede noted curiously, filing the thought away for later. In terms of Chiaki’s safety, while she’d figured as much already, it was still a little reassuring to have Sakura confirm that aspect. Something still didn’t sit quite right with her, however, and while she’d never admit it, she knew very well what was concerning her.

It was rarely Monokuma they had to worry about, now was it?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she shoved it as far out of her mind as she possibly could. _ “Stop it. Don’t think like that. Monokuma’s the real enemy here, and he wouldn’t lay a finger on Chiaki if it got in the way of his game,” _ She firmly reminded herself. Her hands squeezed a bit more tightly around each other. _ “You’re just stressed. Those stupid mirrors aren’t letting you think straight. Just take a few minutes to let your nerves settle and hang out, and find Chiaki right after.” _

It was a good enough plan of action given that it was really a total excuse to ignore her darker suspicions. So good, in fact, that she more or less managed to convince herself of it, a small smile returning to her despite the dark fears lingering deep inside. “In that case, absolutely! I’ll be rooting for both of you guys!”

“Then I will be sure to give a performance worth cheering. Shall we?” Peko said with a sense of finality. Sakura nodded, and with that, the two got into position to carry out their epic duel.

And an epic duel it was. Though Kaede was the furthest thing from a combat expert, it didn’t take an Ultimate Fighter to tell just how remarkable the warriors before her were. Each moved with speed and skill beyond her comprehension, weaving around and towards each other in a dance of punches, kicks, slashes, and stabs that kept them in a constant gridlock. For each slash Sakura unflinchingly endured, Peko would just as effortlessly recover from a punch, the two fighting with such fervor and intensity that it was hard to remember they were human beings rather than unstoppable forces of nature. It was the perfect distraction from her earlier worries, even if Kaede almost felt exhausted just watching them. Yet, at the same time,she couldn’t help but feel incredibly excited throughout the match, trying her best to guess who would do what next and ultimately come out on top.

In the end, the winning move proved to be definitive, if somewhat anticlimactic. After maybe five minutes after resuming their fight (though Kaede couldn’t believe it hadn’t been at least twice that from how long it felt in the moment), the pair ended up in a similar position to the one she’d first seen them in, Sakura waiting in place like a coiling cobra as Peko measured her up from afar. The swordswoman had clearly learned from last time, refusing to charge into an inevitable and potentially debilitating blow when Sakura would now be wise to potential trickery. Rather than take that risk, she attempted to bait Sakura into taking the offensive, beckoning her with a curl of the hand.

Ogami didn’t react to the taunt at first, seeming to study Pekoyama for a long moment as a tense stillness overcame the chaotic energy of the battlefield from mere moments prior. Kaede watched with bated breath, anxious to see which of the two would cave first. 

A beat passed.

Then another.

By the next, Sakura was halfway to Peko, zooming towards her opponent so quickly that she was practically a blur. Peko’s sword was perfectly steady in the face of the oncoming threat, not a hint of fear of uncertainty in her form as the goliath of a woman zeroed in on her. What followed happened so quickly that Kaede didn’t even realize it was happening until it war over: just as Sakura came within arm’s length of her, Peko swerved to the side, intending to make a vicious vertical slice up Sakura’s torso. Wood struck flesh in a sickening and thunderous _ thwack _…

… as Sakura suddenly dropped to a slide and caught Peko’s blade half-swing, her forearm taking the brunt of the impact as she fiercely gripped the sword in her palm. A millisecond later, she tugged on it with all her might, ripping it out of Peko’s hands and sending her stumbling forward half a step. That tiny loss of balance was all that was needed, however, as Sakura swerved herself around and knocked Peko’s legs out from under her and launched herself to her feet in a fluid motion. Before Peko could even attempt to move, Sakura skillfully turned the bamboo sword on its master, holding the dull point to Pekoyama’s throat. “... and that is the matchpoint.” Ogami announced certainly.

Kaede expected Peko to do some sort of daring maneuver to recapture the weapon and resume the fight, but after a moment, she slowly raised her hands in surrender with a bow of her head. “... Yes, it is,” She agreed. Sakura wordlessly withdrew the sword and offered a hand in its place, Peko almost reluctantly accepting the helping hand up as she rose to her feet. The sword was offered back to her next, Peko giving a nod of thanks to her training partner that soon morphed into a bow. “Well fought, Sakura.”

Kaede blinked, a little taken aback. Peko didn’t seem like the type for surrender in their admittedly few interactions. Combining that with a record of almost relentless self-standards she’d noticed in Peko’s actions, the blonde couldn’t help but be surprised by the turn of events. _ “What was that about? It’s such a weird change for her…” _

All the same, Sakura returned the bow, a content look on her face. “You as well. It was an honor to fight someone of such skill. If you wish to spar again, it would be my pleasure.”

“I likely will. Thank you.” Pekoyama agreed. It was almost baffling how quickly they could shift from relentlessly attacking each other to amicably praising the others’ talents, but it was nice to see at the same time. Certainly a step up from the woman that threatened anyone that came near her mere days prior, at any rate. After a few moments, her sharp red eyes flicked to Kaede, an odd, discerning glint in her eyes. “So, Kaede… was it as ‘cool’ as you were hoping?”

Kaede beamed, nodding enthusiastically. “Definitely! It was amazing seeing what you guys are capable of! I really wasn’t sure who was going to end up winning by the end of it!” She merrily declared before reeling in her excitement to give genuine gratitude. “Thank you for letting me watch, you guys.”

Something in Peko’s expression flickered for a second, there and gone much too quickly for Kaede to try to figure out what it might have been. The musician couldn’t help but feel as if she’d somehow said the wrong thing, but she had no idea what could have bothered Peko. Whatever it was, however, she gave a small nod. “You’re welcome.”

A brief but not uncomfortable beat passed without any words, everyone apparently having said their piece. Both to try to keep the quiet from turning awkward and to keep the already-returning gnawing of concern for Chiaki from overtaking her, Kaede took the opportunity to excuse herself from the duo. “Well, I should go try to find Chiaki. She’s probably still somewhere around here if my hunch is right. Thanks again! See you guys at dinner tonight!”

Sakura bowed her head. “Certainly. Until we meet again.”

“Goodbye.” Peko said simply. 

With a farewell wave, Kaede left the grand hall behind and its occupants with it, returning to the maze with the intent to find her companion and attempt to find something of note that didn’t throw even more questions on the mounting pile. _ “Hopefully Chiaki had better luck here than we have so far…” _ Kaede thought to herself with a small sigh as she hesitantly stepped back into the hall of mirrors. None of the panes were off, by all accounts looking like the relatively normal maze she and Nanami had first discovered. Even the thought of those stupid ‘reflections’ made her scoff. “Geez. _ For all Monokuma’s talk about finding answers, all we’re getting so far is a bunch of nonsense! I might not understand what happened with that last image, but if he really thinks I’m gonna fall for any of that crap, he’s got another thing- huh?” _

As Kaede annoyedly trudged through the maze (which was oddly boring without the twisted tricks this time), she suddenly saw the reflection of a figure standing alone in the hall. Rather than some sick mockery of herself, however, the person in this oddity was exactly the one she was looking for. “Chiaki? Hey, Chiaki!”

The mirror image of Chiaki suddenly snapped her head up and seemed to spin around to check for the source of the noise. “_ ... Kaede? _” The girl called out softly, confirming the real deal was almost certainly somewhere in the funhouse. She took a couple steps forward, vanishing from the view of the mirror. 

Kaede closed her eyes, straining to listen for any sign of where the other girl was and faintly picking up on the sound of footfalls somewhere up ahead. “Hang on! I think I can tell where you are! Just keep moving around and talking!” She instructed, and so Nanami complied. It was like an especially annoying game of Marco Polo as Kaede bumbled around dozens if not hundreds of mirrors in an attempt to blindly happen across her companion when practically every inch of the walls was showing her goin in different directions. The slight echo endlessly looping every noise was actually surprisingly helpful for stalking towards the other girl, as while the reverbs were slightly annoying, it also made it a little easier for her to discern where exactly the sound was bouncing off from with her sharp hearing. Not exactly something she found _ fun _ to try to figure out, but she’d work with the tools she was given.

Eventually, they got close enough that they could hear each other’s voice fairly easily, sparing them from having to yell any longer even if they would hold off on discussing their findings until they were properly face to face. At the very least, she could consistently see Nanami in the mirrors, proving she at least had to be nearby. “I think we’re getting close! I’m pretty sure I can hear your footst- oof!” Kaede gasped as something suddenly slammed into her from around the corner. She stumbled back in surprise as the other figure tumbled similarly, barely managing to catch their feet to avoid backing up into the glass with a small grunt of their own. Kaede blinked, giving a quick shake of her head to dispel the dizziness before looking towards the girl in front of her. “Wh- oh! Chiaki!”

The Ultimate Gamer looked up at her with only a faint trace of surprise that was gone within a moment. “... Ow.”

Kaede grimaced guiltily. “I’m sorry! I thought you were further away! Are you okay?”

Nanami shrugged slightly. “I’m alright. Probably.”

“... That’s not really reassuring…” Kaede pointed out with a frown.

Chiaki awkwardly stared for a few moments before continuing as if Kaede hadn’t said anything. “Are you? I was worried when we got split up.”

“I’m fine. I just got lost for a little while and saw some weird things in the mirrors.” Akamatsu assured.

Chiaki, however, seemed to be intrigued by that. “Saw some weird things? Like what?”

The musician was a little confused by the gamer’s sudden interest, but didn’t see any harm in indulging her. “Just some dumb tricks Monokuma did. Weird reflections of myself that were totally wrong or creepy. I thought someone might have grabbed me at one point, but…” She trailed off, not really sure what to make of the bizarre experience in hindsight. She shook her head. “It was nothing. I ended up running into Peko and Sakura right after that, though, so not a total bust. Were you able to find anything?”

The pink-haired girl didn’t respond initially, something thoughtful silently playing across her features for a few moments before speaking. “... I saw some weird stuff too, but I didn’t find anyone else. I found where the entrances for Strawberry House and Grape House are, but I didn’t go too far into either before trying to find you. Do you want to go check them out?”

Kaede nodded in agreement. “That’d be good. At least we could see if there’s anything important here after all, though I think we might have to call it a day once we’re done looking around so we can think over everything so far.”

“I think that’s for the best. There’s a lot to figure out, after all. And I’m starting to feel a little bit sleepy anyway…” Chiaki poorly stifled a yawn, rubbing at her eyes. “But I can get through this first, I think. Mapping’s second nature to retro game fans, so I know where to go. Follow me.”

Not having much choice, Kaede followed behind her somewhat drowsy companion, trying her best to keep her eyes peeled even as her thoughts lingered to what she’d seen so far.

Hopefully whatever they found in the funhouse -if anything- could at least start to solve some of the mysteries they were finding themselves increasingly surrounded by.

***

While Kaede and Chiaki were wandering around the hall of mirrors, however, an important conversation took place elsewhere.

The hall was, tactically speaking, a truly neutral environment. Perfectly even flooring and smooth walls with no sort of high ground or ledges one could exploit for an advantage, a medium-sized diameter large enough to create space without being too difficult to close distance in, only a single functioning entrance and exit that narrowed the chances of a sneak-attack... in a number of ways, it was an ideal location for sparring. That was why Peko had chosen this place for her duel. With nothing but their raw talents and cunning to rely on, it would force them both to show their true selves.

In that regard, the plan had worked perfectly. Sakura had shown a true and honorable spirit in the heat of battle, and in doing so, proven the legitimacy of their interactions thus far. To say it was what Peko had been hoping for might be a strong term -she learned long ago the futility of that- but it was… nice, to know it was the case. It was rare to have proven allies in her experience, so having one of such skill and reliability was an honor.

By contrast, Peko had proven...

Peko sighed quietly through her nose. There was no need for a reminder when her body was already aching practically everywhere from Sakura’s strikes and her own exertion. It was a dull pain, one she’d felt so often through her training that it was hardly discernible from ‘normal’, leaving her completely ambivalent to the sensation. Still, it would be foolish to pretend it wasn’t indicative of just how intense the battle had been on her body. Limits could only be ignored for so long before a tool breaks for good, after all…

She shifted her focus towards her sparring partner. If Ogami felt similarly, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it, hardly a bead of sweat on her brow despite being in the heat of combat mere minutes prior. That alone was nearly as impressive as her skills themselves, even if it gave off an even more inhuman air to the mysterious martial artist. More strangely than that, though, was the fact that Sakura had already been looking at her when she turned around, those sharp silver irises piercing into her with a curious glint. She felt her hackles raise under the discerning gaze. “... Yes?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m just trying to figure something out,” Sakura clarified, crossing her arms as she cut to the chase. “Though I had you pinned, there was still time for you to escape, in theory. You could have rolled away with relative ease and attempted to recover your sword to continue the fight. Yet, you didn’t. So… why did you concede, Peko?”

The black-clad student fought to keep a neutral expression, failing to keep her jaw from tightening slightly. She’d hoped her surrender would be taken at face value, but clearly that had failed, now placing her in an uncomfortable position. Peko was no stranger to lying -one didn’t remain in the Kuzuryu clan very long if they couldn’t hold a secret- but she was never the sort to tell falsehoods without good reason, either. Careless lying was the quickest way to invoke the suspicion of others as their leader had discovered first hand, and she was not so foolish as to invite such distrust over a petty matter of pride.

“... You are correct that I could have attempted that… but, there would have been no point. You proved throughout our duel that you vastly outclass me in terms of strength and possess similar speed. Though I could have rolled away, you would be on me nearly instantly, and I do not have the capacity to overpower you without exploiting pressure points. I could easily have reclaimed it from another opponent, but from you, it would be a futile effort. Besides, in a true fight, I likely would have died the moment you took my weapon.” Peko explained blandly, thinning her lips uncomfortably. Though she was reluctant to admit such weakness to a combatant -in the midst of a killing game, no less- the entire point of this arrangement was to determine Ogami’s trustworthiness, and that much had been proven. What was the point of assessing trust if she refused to do anything with it?

Sakura hummed acknowledgingly. “I see your point. It certainly would have been a difficult fight to win, at least. It might have been possible… but it is impossible to say for sure.” She mused. Peko watched her carefully, subconsciously checking for any hint that the other woman was taking note of her confession or had anything in her body language to suggest a sneak attack, yet nothing of the sort ever came. 

It was… strange, to Peko. She’d lived her life with the understanding that anyone that wasn’t her young master was a potential threat to him, and subsequently any observed weakness on her part was a weakness of his. No matter how many times he insisted otherwise, that was the nature of her existence. So, to have not only admitted one of her failings to one of the few people capable of ending her life, but to find no sign of the treachery she had spent so long training herself against… even if she’d already made the decision to trust Sakura, it perhaps hadn’t truly sunk in until that moment. Though she of course would be careful never to lower her guard too much, this was someone she could confide in. Perhaps, in some sense of the word, even a friend. She could admit that shortcoming without fear of it being used against her…

… So, then. If she could trust Sakura, and Sakura chose to trust her, it was obvious what she had to do to be worthy of that trust.

“... I must admit, there is something I am curious about myself. As I said, you do not fight like a coward. You were truthful with me in combat, and presumably so in conversation because of that. However… that makes it difficult to understand something.”

The words hung in the air for a long moment, the two women meeting each other’s gaze discerningly. Just as before, Peko saw no trace of deception in those eyes as sharp and silver as a blade, only careful curiosity in its stead. “... What would that be?”

“It might be best to simply show you.” Peko said vaguely as she slowly reached into a well-hidden pocket in her skirt, careful to ensure Sakura wouldn’t misunderstand the action before taking grip of the object within. Before the killing games, she’d often kept a dagger or similarly small blade there in case of emergencies, but the only thing inside it now was a far less lethal tool. A moment later, she was holding her monopad out in offering to her slowly approaching companion.

Sakura hesitated for a beat, a deathly silence falling over them as the martial artist seemed to steel herself until she gently accepted the device. Once she looked down, while there was little surprise, the massive amount of confliction within her was palpable as she took in the sight before her.

**Ultimate Crimes: True Tales of the Killing Game**

**Episode 5: Sakura Ogami, Ultimate Martial Artist**

The quiet continued, smothering and all encompassing. Peko remained firm throughout, ready for whatever response Ogami could make and whatever that demanded of her in turn. “... Are you certain about this?” Sakura eventually asked, voice soft but unwavering.

“Yes. I have already explained why I feel confident sharing this. Even if it does not make much sense to me… perhaps it could mean something to you,” Peko assured. She closed her eyes, bowing her head slightly. “It is your choice whether you wish to view this video or not. Either way, if you are going to put so much trust in me, I have no choice but to at least inform you that I have seen it and give you the option to do the same. What you choose to do with it is up to you.”

The warrior was once again silent with contemplation, her expression unreadable as the debated the options presented. Pekoyama had no insight as to what the other girl must have been thinking at that moment, nor did she want it. Her own faint curiosity was insignificant; it was not a tool’s place to question what was done with them. Her lone purpose was to fulfil the will of her master, and in his absence, those desires still paled in comparison to whatever had to be done. As such, she made no further effort to influence Sakura’s decision one way or the other, leaving the choice with her and her alone.

At long last, Sakura made her decision. “... I will view it,” She announced solemnly, tightening her hand around the pad slightly. She looked from the tablet to its owner and gave a deep nod. “Thank you for this, Peko. Regardless of what I may find out, I have no choice but to at least try. That said… if I change after seeing this; if my fears that whatever motive broke me last time still holds sway over me… I want you to know I will not blame you for whatever you must do.”

Peko thinned her lips unhappily even as she subtly let her hands drift into position to quickly draw her sword if need be. “I do not believe it will come to that… but I will not hesitate if it must.”

“Good. Hopefully, you’re correct,” Sakura hummed, seemingly given enough peace by that to fully commit to her decision. “In that case… I refuse to be blind to the truth any longer. I will confront it head-on. And to do that… I will begin with this.”

Sakura pressed the play button, and the ever-infuriating narration of Monokuma began to play.

***

As this happened, Kaede and Chiaki resumed their exploration of the funhouse. Unfortunately for Kaede, the rest of the funhouse proved as fruitless as the rest of their search thus far. Neither of the two houses contained much of note, being practically identical in layout for most of the rooms that in and of themselves tended to be spacious but empty. According to Chiaki, it was fairly similar to the funhouse from her game as well, if apparently slightly smaller in scale. In total, there were only a couple points of even remote interest.

First, the entrance to Strawberry House itself was an elevator, as Sakura mentioned. Kaede had initially thought it was broken from how slowly it responded, but once after what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at their destination. Strawberry House was effectively useless for how little of note it actually contained, their search of it only really lasting as long as it did because it was Kaede’s first time with the layout she would later find nearly perfectly replicated in the other building. The exception was the top floor of Strawberry House, wherein an obscene-looking door with a demented painting of a clown on it marked by the words **“Final Dead Room”** above it resided. An ominous aura seemed to emanate from it, something that might have been enough to ward Kaede away even without Chiaki’s dire warning not to enter it. She didn’t go into any details, but the seriousness with which the gamer spoke was more than enough to assure Akamatsu to just take her word for it for the moment. That rather abruptly ended their search of that section of the funhouse, and one elevator ride and stumble through the maze later, they came upon the climax of their search.

Though much the same as its red and pink counterpart, Grape House was unique in that the top floor largely consisted of a bizarre sort of shrine to Monokuma. Tsumugi had briefly mentioned it as a museum during their first discussion, making Kaede slightly optimistic there would be something concrete or at least some sort of hint hidden within, but their search of the place turned out to be a total waste of time. The only things on display were human-sized statues of Monokuma and what she guessed to be knickknacks of his from the previous games, though given that Chiaki showed no reaction to any of them, they must not have been especially important.

The bookcases had looked promising… until she’d taken a book labeled Monokuma’s Meaty Diary off one of them and -with increasing speed and irritation- thumbed through the bear’s nonsensical ‘origin story’ before giving up halfway through. Quick glances through the other shelves revealed more of the same, practically everything either being a copy of one of the other books, a sequel, or an equally terrible but different novel. By the time she hit a paragraph of Monokuma boasting about his ‘domain over all the ladies’, both she and Chiaki had agreed it was a bust and left it behind in annoyance.

Kaede gave a small huff as the door to the so-called archive closed behind them. “Well, that was really, really dumb. Stupid Monokuma…” The blonde grumbled, annoyed by both the waste of time and the fact that she’d actually bothered _ reading _ any of that nonsense past the first paragraph. Still, whining wouldn’t get them anywhere, so she tried to look for a silver lining. “But, there’s still a couple places there could be clues, right?”

Chiaki frowned slightly, slowly shaking her head. “Sorry, but no. That’s everything in the funhouse that I remember. I don’t think we’ll be finding anything else.”

“What? Seriously?” Kaede asked disappointedly. At Chiaki’s apologetic nod, she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Well… have you been able to figure anything out, at least? I’ve been trying, but honestly, I don’t understand what little bits we found.”

“... Not for sure, yet. I thought of some questions, but I don’t know if my guesses are any good without proof. I don’t think I can prove anything about your tape one way or the other. Sorry.” Nanami admitted unhappily.

In truth, Kaede hadn’t expected her to come up with anything, but it was still frustrating to have come up empty handed after all that. “It’s not your fault. Just…” Kaede let out another sigh, crossing her arms. “I don’t get it. Monokuma said the truths behind our games were in this park, but I’m more confused now than when I started.”

“... I think that’s what he wants. He’s probably trying to keep things vague so people will get desperate from what they think something might mean,” Chiaki suggested, pulling her hood up as if to defend herself from the grim idea. “It’s horrible… but it sounds like something he would do.”

“Yeah, it does. I guess it wouldn’t be too surprising if that was what he was going for,” Akamatsu conceded, displeased with the concept but unable to argue against the logic. Ultimately, she supposed it wasn’t a lost cause just yet, given there was still roughly half the park to reexamine once they resumed their search. Even if Monokuma was playing games with them, it was still possible they could find something and deduce something from it. “Well, we won’t let that stop us. We might not have a lot to go on yet, but I’m sure we can manage something. For now, though, I think we should head back and try to relax for the day. We can try again tomorrow when we’re not quite as rundown.”

Chiaki nodded, once again failing to cover a yawn. Between the soccer match and wandering around the park for hours, Kaede could actually understand why the girl would be so tired for once, though she suspected Nanami would probably have been like that even without that exercise. “Right… we can sleep on things. I’ll let you know if I come up with something before then. Should we meet up in your room again tonight?”

Kaede shook her head. “It might be best to hold off for now. Until we find something solid, I’m not sure we’d have anything to talk about. Besides, we’ll need all the rest we can get if we’re taking another look tomorrow.” The maestro gently declined. The fact that she was running on barely any sleep at that very moment was besides the point.

The shorter girl seemed to agree, letting out a small hum. “Okay. I’ll head over to my lab and have a nap… if you need me, I’ll be there. Probably.”

Akamatsu raised an eyebrow at her curiously. “Er… wouldn’t it be better to do that in your room?”

“Too far away… just need a few…” Chiaki mumbled groggily, her eyes drooping as her speech slurred. Kaede was quick to snap her fingers in quick succession to keep Nanami from falling asleep on her feet, making her head snap up. “Huh…? Oh… thanks.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to walk, Chiaki?” Kaede asked, feeling a bit concerned.

Chiaki simply shrugged. “Probably… if you want, you can carry me, I guess…”

Magenta eyes locked with salmon pink as Kaede shot her companion a flat look. Chiaki was apparently completely serious, staring back at her blankly. “... No thanks. Come on; I’ll help you get there before I go.” She said bluntly, taking her arm in her grasp and leading her forward as her companion muttered out her thanks. It would occur to her soon enough that Chiaki was the only one between them that actually knew her way around the maze and subsequently would have to take the lead, but that bridge would be crossed when they got to it. For now, she needed time to unwind and process the day’s events, and that started with getting Nanami to her lab. Hopefully, it would be the first deescalating step to a calmer night.

***

It was a bit of a walk from the funhouse to Chiaki’s lab and a considerably longer one all the way back to the dorms, Kaede’s feet aching from her unusually active day. It didn’t help that it was almost four in the afternoon by the time she finally got back to her room, putting her in the odd middle-area where it was a little late to hang out with anyone yet way too early to meet up for dinner, either. Ultimately, she ended up back on her couch, resuming her long-since abandoned game of Solitaire as she thought over everything she’d discovered thus far.

The photograph was without a doubt the most peculiar and distressing of everything. How it was taken, when, why, where; she couldn’t even begin to try answering any of them, and that made a cold pit form in her stomach the longer she thought about it. The only thing she knew for sure was that it showed the three of them together on apparently friendly terms despite her being positive she never met either man before the killing game and doing so in a place she didn’t think was the academy. In theory, it happened during a potential two-year period of memories she never knew she lost and had no idea whether that actually happened or not. Beyond that, everything was a mystery, and one she doubted she’d start getting any clues for until Monokuma wanted her to.

Whatever the pictures were for the others, it must have left them feeling just as lost. Teruteru’s concern for his mom, Leon’s apparent lost friendship with Mondo, whoever was in Kaito and Chiaki’s photographs… she was confident it wouldn’t be enough to cause anything dangerous, but it definitely didn’t help the tensions already beginning to mount. Ultimately, she wasn’t sure if getting those pictures was a good or bad thing given the grim questions it raised yet the possible insights to their situation they could also hold.

The motive building was less actively unnerving, but had the potential to become something dangerous depending on what Monokuma was hiding within it. Whatever the ‘tunnel of s’ was, it was clear Monokuma was going to be playing on the mysteries surrounding so much of their situation if those question marks littering the building were any indication. But just how deep would this dive into their pasts be? What was Monokuma willing to reveal for the sake of a motive, and how much could they trust it if at all? There was too little information to make even a partially confident guess, leaving the whole thing rather murky.

Similarly, she had no idea what to make of her visions in the hall of mirrors. It obviously had to be an illusion of some sort, but how on earth did it work? She was hardly an expert on special effects, but she doubted even someone as talented as Himiko could manage such amazing tricks in real time. She briefly wondered if she’d just imagined it somehow, but that held its own can of worms regarding her mental state if she’d been hallucinating to that extent. Either way, any meaning they were supposed to have was completely lost on her. The second one was a fairly unsubtle dig at her quote unquote ‘real’ self-image, but what was showing her in some generic school uniform supposed to mean? That she wasn’t special? She’d never let her status as an Ultimate get to her head; if anything, she already often felt underclassed among her amazing peers, but never to the point of truly bothering her. And that final vision? She couldn’t even try to think of an explanation for whatever symbolism that was supposed to have, or how it seemed to grab her arm. Another confusing and irritating dead end, unfortunately.

Tsumugi… would be difficult to make up for, and that was the one certainty Kaede had left of their relationship. She wanted nothing more to make amends with her, but their conversation during halftime made it clear Shirogane would only accept it on her terms. After how badly she screwed up, the least Kaede could do was respect that wish. How that tension would affect things in the killing game until then was a question she could only hope wouldn’t have to be answered.

Peko’s behavior was certainly strange, but Kaede didn’t think it was a bad thing from what she’d observed. She definitely seemed to be rather harsh on herself, but she hadn’t known her long or well enough to tell if that was out of the norm for her, and Chiaki’s explanation implied it wasn’t. Though Kaede wasn’t happy about anyone putting themselves down like that, there was also the counterweight of Peko’s friendship with Sakura and the buddings of ones with Kaito and Gonta that showed some promise for change. Those three would likely have better luck helping Pekoyama than Kaede herself did, so while it was definitely something she’d keep an eye on, it seemed like it would be better to take a more hands-off approach than she usually preferred.

All in all, after a full day of investigation, they’d found zero clues regarding the legitimacy of her video and came out with even more uncertainties than they had started with. It was disheartening to say the least. She was far from a detective, but she’d hoped to at least find _ something _ to hint one way or the other. The fact that so much of her past was in question scared her more than Monokuma ever could, and now that she was aware that _ years _ of her life could be missing in addition to her memories potentially being fake only worsened that. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed Chiaki was right and this was all some intricate long-term motive from that dreadful bear.

Akamatsu sighed, shaking her head to banish the thoughts and refocus on her game. _ “Getting hung up on that won’t help you find the truth any sooner. Focus on the things that are going well. Like... how Leon’s finally warming up to people, or how close everyone’s getting in general! If everyone was willing to play games together despite everything, that’s got to be a sign that we’re in this together!” _ She attempted to cheer herself. For once, it wasn’t too hard to believe that. If she kept things up as they were going now, maybe it could even be a fact. It was hardly going to solve the copious doubts and worries she harbored all on its own, but a silver lining was more than welcome in her current storm.

The rest of the night passed by with relatively little of interest. Mikan insisted Mondo keep his leg elevated to heal and subsequently ruled that it’d be best if he had dinner in his room, so Kaito naturally decided to show solidarity with his sidekick and insisted on eating in the room too. That in turn got Kaede to stay with them, and since Mikan wasn’t about to let a patient out of her sight, the four ended up having their meal together. It was nice, even if more than a little bit of the discussion was Mondo and Kaito trying to not-so-subtly find ways around his needed rest. Mikan unsurprisingly drew the line at Kaito’s suggestion that Mondo do situps in bed, but they seemed to be getting along nonetheless.

Ultimately, the three of them left Owada’s room for the night, the nurse returning to her own while Kaede and Kaito opted to train a little earlier than usual. She practically felt dead by the end of it after the rest of her exercise from earlier, but at least that served to leave her tired enough that she went to bed afterwards without her usual hesitancy.

She wasn’t sure how much that would translate to getting actual sleep, but with how heavy her eyelids were, she’d find out soon enough.

***

It wasn’t much of a surprise that her sleep was fitful and almost more draining than simply staying awake would have been. She’d become more or less used to waking up with her heart pounding and a cold sweat encompassing her, as concerning as that should have been. The sensation was almost dull at this point; she could physically feel the fear in her body much longer than it remained in her waking mind, leaving her exasperatedly trying to steady her thundering heartbeat knowing full well she wasn’t in any immediate danger. The cycle at least seemed to be happening a little less often than the first few nights on the ship, only happening three times as far as she could remember. Trying to call that progress felt like a bitter joke, so she opted to try ignoring it entirely instead.

However, the morning quickly took a surprising turn. Just as Kaede was preparing to go to the dining hall, having already concluded she’d probably gotten all the sleep she was going to and readying herself for the day accordingly- a familiar jingle rang out from the TV.

**Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bing Bong Bing Bong!**

The screen flashed to life, a small hiss escaping Kaede as the harsh brightness seared her eyes. “_ Attention! This is your captain speaking, with an important announcement! So important, in fact, I’m making it an hour early! _” Monokuma’s squeaky voice announced, instantly drawing Akamatsu’s attention.

_ “‘An important announcement’…? Oh, no. That can only mean-” _

“_ You see, kiddos, if there’s one thing I love in life, it’s surprises. An extra salmon on my platter, a lucky penny on the street, one of you lovable, straight-laced symbols of hope cracking and bashing a friend’s head open - it’s the spice that makes life worth living for! That’s why it was so important to me for this next motive to be a surprise for you guys! Things are so much more vivid when you’re not expecting it! _” Monokuma rambled, smiling broadly as he idly stirred the drink in his paw.

A moment later, however, his expression creased into a deep scowl. “_ So you can imagine how much it teed me off that a couple of you brats tried to spoil yourselves on what my marvelous gift for you all is! I mean _ ** _really_ ** _ , don’t you have any respect at all for what I’m trying to do here?! _”

Kaede scowled right back. “No. I hate everything about you.” She spat. He couldn’t hear her, of course, but it still felt good.

Luckily for her patience, Monokuma chose that as the time to finally get to the point. “_ I’m just saying, if you wanna know who to blame for being woken up at six in the morning, blame them. You know who you are. Anyhoo, that reminds me why I made this announcement to begin with: everyone, please gather at the gate to Felony Funland. More instructions will be given when you arrive. See you soon~! _”

The screen flicked back off, leaving Kaede frowning at her own reflection. _ “So it’s finally time for the motive, huh…? Okay, Kaede, don’t freak out. Just keep calm and face it head on!” _ She rallied in her mind. Summoning as much determination as she could, Kaede stepped out into the hallway, some of her fellow passengers already waiting for the herd to form. She offered a wave in greeting. “Hey, guys…”

Kirumi, Sakura, and Korekiyo nodded and returned the greeting, their features hardened with the thin mist of unease permeating the ship. Moments ticked by without a word, only serving to make it feel all the more stifling. Kaede wanted to say something uplifting to try to help, but couldn’t come up with anything worth saying, opting to hold her tongue lest she make a fool of herself.

The remaining Ultimates gathered in the hall soon after, some clearly more uneasy or aggravated than others. Mondo looked more pissed than usual, though whether that was on account of what was to come or the fact that he woke up an hour early and had a bad foot was unclear. Leon and Gundham were among the more visibly wary, though a not-insignificant amount of apprehension leaked through Teruteru and Tsumugi’s bleary expressions. Concern, determination, suspicion, or something in between was evident to some degree on the face of everyone present, knowing all too well they were in store for some sort of trick.

“Ugh. Couldn’t he have at least waited until the morning announcement for this crap…?” Kaito grumbled.

Leon scowled at him. “Seriously? _ That’s _ your biggest problem right now?”

“No; for once, the Luminary speaks wisely. I had almost completed an intensive ritual of rejuvenation when Monokuma shattered my concentration. Even if I attempted to finish the ceremony, it would be for naught at this point. He must learn not to mess with me, lest he face my unbridled fury!” Gundham defended, irritation slipping into that last part. His decree became considerably less powerful when Kaede realized he was basically mad that Monokuma woke him up.

Rather than let their bickering escalate, Kaede took the opportunity to assert control of the situation. “Sorry, guys, but we’ll have to deal with that later. For now, we have to see whatever Monokuma’s planning. The sooner we can get to the third deck, the better, so let’s go.”

“She’s right. There’s no point in wasting time arguing. Follow or not if you want, but I am going.” Peko announced before promptly starting on her way to the stairs. Whether prompted by Kaede’s words or Pekoyama’s example, the others quickly followed suit, voicing their agreements or simply grumbling and groaning but going all the same. Likewise, Kaede didn’t bother guessing which event instigated the change and simply shifted her focus to trying to prepare for whatever was waiting for them up ahead.

***

Some time later, the Blackened arrived at the gates of Felony Funland as instructed to find a series of signs and arrows that pointed in the direction towards the tunnel, confirming her suspicions that it was what Monokuma planned to show them. Beyond some rolled eyes and snappy comments about Monokuma’s vague clues, the others didn’t seem to even have a partial idea what they were in for. Akamatsu couldn’t decide if that was better or worse than her situation.

It wasn’t until they all arrived at the large curtain surrounding the building that something important happened. Practically the moment they got there, the Monokubs sprung from the floor to greet them in their usual obnoxious manner.

** _“RISE AND SHINE, UR-!”_ **

“Shut the fuck up!” Mondo irritatedly called back before they could even finish their catchphrase. 

Apparently that was all it took to throw the bears off their script, too, given how they sputtered in response. “H-hey! You shut the fuck up! We’re doing important stuff here!” Monokid growled.

Monosuke tsked, shaking his head. “Damn brats don’t have any patience these days. Don’t you guys remember what the broadcast said about pullin’ that?”

“Yeah! Good things happen to those who wait! Rushing things just means you get them done on time!” Monotaro said triumphantly. A moment later, his bravado disappeared, absently tapping at his forehead. “Er… wait, I feel like I said something wrong there…”

“Idiot! Didn’t ya study your lines at all?!” Monosuke barked.

Monophanie held up a paw. “Um, but we weren’t planning on getting interrupted, were we? I don’t think we can script around that…”

Monokid pumped up his chest. “Scripts are for losers that can’t remember for shit! If you let Papa Kuma down over somethin’ like that, I swear I’ll bully you so hard you forget how to talk!”

“PLEASE-GET-ALONG.” Monodam beeped unhappily.

_ “Why did Monokuma have to bring them back…? Isn’t being in this awful game punishment enough?” _ Kaede wined in her mind, desperately wanting nothing more than for them to just shut their traps. Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing from their looks.

For once, luck seemed to be in their favor, as a certain bear’s appearance accomplished exactly that. 

“Hmm? Isn’t that asking a lot, though, my oh-so-adorable child?” Monokuma’s voice hummed from an unseen set of speakers loudly projecting his voice to the crowd.

“WHY, FATHER?” Monodam questioned, almost sounding offended by the notion.

“Why, that’s simple! You see, getting along requires a lot of things to work out. Mutual respect, interests, trusting them, and most importantly…” The bear paused for a second, the faint sound of his poorly-stifled giggles rumbling over the mic. “... knowing yourself! After all, you wouldn’t get along with someone who didn’t even know who they were, because if they don’t even know that, how can you?”

Kaede raised an eyebrow, her brow furrowing in confusion, but she wouldn’t be the first to speak. “Um… sorry, but Gonta not understand what you mean. How can person not know themself?” The Ultimate Entomologist questioned, unwittingly playing right into Monokuma’s paws.

“So you ask, and so I shall answer, Mister Gokuhara! A person might not know who they are because they don’t remember something important about themselves! I’m sure you know a little something about that!” Monokuma cruelty teased. The pained look on Gonta’s face filled the musician with outrage for her friend, but Monokuma wouldn’t grant her the opportunity to voice her indignation. “Which is why your loving captain has decided to do you all a little favor and take care of that problem for you!”

“Take care of- what the hell are you talking about?! Stop fucking with us and spit it out!” Mondo roared, balling a fist threateningly at Monokuma’s children in the main bear’s absence.

“With pleasure!” Monokuma’s disembodied voice cheerfully announced as the Monokubs pulled out previously unseen sets of drums and began rolling them in anticipation. “Don’t worry, dear students! If there’s some part of you missing deep down inside and you don’t know what it is, Captain Monokuma’s incredible new invention will remind you! If something seems a little too unclear, it’ll flash a light on it! If there’s a dirty secret you’ve tried to hide so hard even you’ve forgotten it, this thing will dig it back up right to the surface and air it out for you! All of this and more is possible with one quick jaunt through…”

As the drumroll hit its climax, the curtains were quickly drawn open to reveal Monokuma proudly standing in front of the question mark-covered building Kaede and Chiaki had seen just yesterday, still garbed in his ridiculous ringleader outfit. The design was much more apparent in direct lighting, a swirling mural of blues and purples with an almost hypnotic pattern to it, but what truly caught her attention was the now-illuminated neon sign officially naming the place. The name, as Monokuma enthusiastically announced a moment later, was…

“... the **Tunnel of Secrets!**”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Congratulations to those of you who predicted the Tunnel of Secrets!
> 
> Lots of important clues this chapter! We wonder how many you all will find...? ;)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and as always, see you next time! :D


	27. Chapter Two: Fast Times at Felony Funland: Daily Life Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tunnel of Secrets takes its course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A week late, but here all the same! Sorry for the delay. It's going to be a little bit before the next update as well, but once this semester is over, CSpratt and I will have a MUCH easier time going about writing these. Enjoy, everyone!
> 
> -MrCynical

The silence was, for a brief moment, all-encompassing. Everyone -Kaede included- simply stared at the building in front of her in a mixture of shock and growing dread. 

“Tunnel of Secrets…?” She repeated under her breath. The very name of it was foreboding, promising dark, ugly truths; things that weren’t meant to be known. Between that and Monokuma’s speech leading up to it-

Almost as if her quiet voice had broken a dam, her fellow prisoners’ reactions flooded out all at once, voices indecipherable in the mix.

“Wh-what are you talking about?!”

“Are you serious?!”

“Do you mean to say-”

“-dis thing ‘an give us our mem’ries back?!”

“Calm down; calm down! Really, I appreciate the panic, but this old bear can only take in so much at once! One at a time, please!” Monokuma insisted, his damned grin wide in clear enjoyment of their dismay.

Leon stormed forward with grit teeth, his face redder than his hair as he threw an accusing fist towards the animatronics. “Calm down?! Screw that _ and _ you! Did you just say this thing can give back memories?!”

The bear nodded enthusiastically. “Yes indeed, Mister Kuwata! You heard right! This baby-” Monokuma jerked a ‘thumb’ back towards the gaudily designed building. “-exists to give some of you lucky fellas a nice and despairing trip down memory lane for all the little things that slipped your mind!”

“And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kaito demanded.

“Oh, you know; where you left your car keys, that thing you were gonna say twenty minutes ago but forgot, lost memories of your lives **before** the killing games, maybe your **motives**-” Monokuma gave an obnoxious fake gasp, slamming his paws over his snout even as his grin grew. “Whoops! Did I say those last ones out loud?”

His taunt worked like a charm, the crowd immediately launching into a cacophony of alarmed and curious voices.

“W-wait, so-!”

“Wh-what the fuck?!”

“Our memories really are-”

“A-ah don’ believe it…!”

“- I can find out wh-why I k-killed Ibuki and Hiyoko?”

“-king bullshit! What d’ya mean lost memories _ before _ the games?! I remember every-”

“-wonderous opportunity. Keheheh… so, I assume-”

A resounding _ thud _ rang out as two powerful fists slammed into each other. “Everybody SHUT UP!” Kaito called out commandingly, visibly frustrated. For better or worse, that stunned the group into silence, every pair of eyes locked on him. He gave them all a stern look. “We aren’t gonna solve anything if we all keep freaking out! Get a hold of yourselves, guys!” He scolded before turning his glare on their captor. “And you! Stop screwing around! Whatever you’re trying to pull, we’re not buying it! There’s no way any of us are-”

“Mister Momota, please stop.”

Kaito froze in the middle of what he was saying, turning gobsmacked to Kirumi. “Huh?”

Kirumi slowly drew forward, her gaze lingering on Kaito for only a few moments before turning to the bear. “... Monokuma, please elaborate.”

Kaede felt like she’d been slapped, staring at her friend in shock and bewilderment. “Kirumi? What are you doing?”

The maid glanced towards her almost reluctantly. “I apologize, but I cannot agree with Mister Momota on this. Though he has every right to _ personally _ refuse to do so, I believe it would be best if we at least had the opportunity to learn what exactly this is and make a decision from there. As such,” She explained apologetically, thinning her lips before cementing her position. “I would like you to explain what exactly this entails, please.”

“Wh-what?!” Kaede blurted out. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She could see the reasoning, even if she completely disagreed with it, but to have it come from _ Kirumi _ of all people took her aback.

“C’mon; you can’t be serious! This is Monokuma we’re talking about! How can we trust anything coming from him?!” Kaito argued, pumping a fist determinedly.

However, he and Kaede quickly found themselves outnumbered. “... I-I’m sorry, but… I think we should, too…” Mikan quietly agreed, wincing at how loud her voice seemed in the relative silence. “S-sorry! I can change my mind! I just… _ really _ want to know...”

Korekiyo softly clicked his tongue, closing his eyes as a hint of a smile pulled at his mask. “I, too, would like to take this opportunity. Though Monokuma is not exactly a trustworthy figure, as we discussed last time, he has never outright lied with one of his motives. And, given the flashback lights, we know for certain that he _ can _ restore memories we didn’t even know were missing.”

“And if there really is crap we can’t remember, then there’s no way we can just pass up getting to know that! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want answers, damn it!” Leon tacked on passionately.

Kaede felt a pit in her stomach start to form, but rather than let the dissenting voices pile higher and higher, she opted to cut to the heart of it. “... Does everyone feel that way?” She asked, already steeling herself for the unfortunate answer she was sure of.

No one spoke up to agree, but neither did anyone dissent, the blackened glancing around each other as if waiting for someone to test the waters. After a few moments, Kaede quietly sighed out of her nose. “... Alright then. If that’s how it is, then… we’ll go along with it.”

“Excellent! I’m really glad to hear that, because I don’t remember giving you guys a choice!” The bear snapped, a twinge of annoying bleeding through his cheerfulness. “Now stop wasting time and get in there already! It’s been like eight chapters since anything interesting happened!”

With that furious declaration, the bear vanished, his children fearfully muttering about his anger before disappearing as well. In the silence that followed, Kaede took a moment to examine everyone’s reactions. The initial fear was still present, but it had largely given way to a sort of nervous anticipation or grim curiosity. The words of Monokuma and the more daring among them had taken root in their hearts, for good or for ill. Kaede could only hope it would end up as the former.

“Well… come on, guys. Let’s figure out what this is…” She instructed, tugging on the straps of her backpack and taking the lead towards the mysterious new attraction.

The building was actually harder to visually understand in broad daylight. The swirling, almost hypnotic spirals of the question marks made an already imposing structure look as if it were somehow moving in place as her mind imagined the question marks shifting and sliding slightly. She shook her head, clenching her eyes shut to banish the illusion. She had to focus on making sure this place was safe for everyone, whatever it was.

Some of the group hushedly talked among themselves while others remained unnervingly quiet as Kaede led them through the maze-like halls within, whispering to each other about what this place could possibly be or whether it was some sort of trap. Kaede didn’t pay too close attention to their rumblings to focus on where they were going, but a small tap on her shoulder brought her attention to a rather serious looking Kaito. “Hey, Kaede?”

“Kaito? What’s up?”

Kaito thinned his lips, glancing around as if he wanted to make sure no one was listening before leaning a little closer. “So, what’s the plan? Are we really doing this?”

Kaede blinked, momentarily confused, before frowning. “I don’t think we have much of a choice. Even if Monokuma doesn’t make us do anything other than check it out, the others want to. I can’t stop them. Even if I tried, that’d just make things worse.”

“Well, yeah, but there’s got to be a catch or something. Monokuma wouldn’t throw us a bone for free.” Kaito argued.

“I _ know _. Trust me, Kaito, I’m not any happier about this than you are. Just…” Akamatsu sighed and shook her head. “We can cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let’s figure out what we’re dealing with first.”

Kaito looked displeased, but nodded, letting the conversation end there. With his outrage under control for the moment, Kaede privately mulled over her own concerns. Kaito was definitely right that there was something suspicious about the whole thing, but there was little she could do to go on beyond her hunch, and she was certain _ she _ probably wouldn’t accept that if she were anyone else. There was basically nothing she could do to get around this despite all but knowing whatever was being built up to was terrible, a realization that she had weighing on her with every step closer they drew to it.

At long last, they arrived at what Kaede assumed had to be the main attraction of the place. The corridor they’d been trailing with abruptly gave way to a medium-ish sized room with two opposing doors on either side of the hall both decorated with Monokuma’s face. The lighting here was a ghostly blue more reminiscent of the funhouse, an unpleasant connection not helped by the various inquisitive-looking portraits of Monokuma lining the walls. What was most important, however, was the thin river that flowed from either end of the room to the other with a small Monokuma-themed dinghy patiently waiting in the middle of it. 

“A boat…?” Kaede wondered aloud, tilting her head at the curious sight.

A familiar raspy chuckle croaked out from behind her. “Keheheh… I see. A clever twist on the concept, I must admit…”

Mondo scoffed as Kaede turned around, glaring at Shinguji as he rolled his eyes. “Tch. ‘Course you’d think it was smart, weirdo… and hey, if you like it so much, what’s this thing even supposed to be?”

The Ultimate Anthropologist didn’t rise to the bait as his peers turned to him curiously, simply holding up a finger as he often did whenever they were due for an impromptu lecture. “Allow me to explain. Fittingly, considering this entire section of the ship is an amusement park, this motive seems to be incorporated into a specific ride. Though they have gone by a few different names since their invention, the one most would recognize would likely be the tunnel of love.”

Kaede had to resist the urge to smack her forehead when she made the connection. _ Of course _ Monokuma would spring for a dumb joke like that on something intended to make them _ murder _ each other…

“Oh, I’ve seen these in some things! It’s such a cute trope to have a pair go on one of these and end up getting scared into holding each other! I always thought it would be fun to do something like this!” Tsumugi chirped excitedly. After a moment, however, her enthusiasm faded. “Ah… but, I don’t think I’d want to do it if it’s a motive…”

Teruteru gave a strained smirk. “That’s fine. I’d be more than happy to hold you however you’d like, Tsumugi…” He cracked, but it sounded awfully half-hearted compared to his usual flirts. Kaede couldn’t even bring herself to scold him for it with how shaken up he must have been just under the surface.

Ignoring him entirely, Leon piped up. “I’ve been on a couple of those before, but they’re just dark rooms to make out with chicks. How the hell is one supposed to give us our memories back?”

“That’s an excellent question, Mister Kuwata! For someone that usually strikes out, you’re really on a roll today!” Monokuma’s aggravating voice called out as the bear dropped from the ceiling.

Leon glared at the bear. “Screw you, asshole!”

“Yeah! Quit being a jackass and answer the question!” Kaito demanded, backing his sidekick instantly.

“I don’t know if I should if you’re gonna be like that… buuut, I’m feeling a little bored, so what the hay. So, here’s how it works: a handful of you guys clamber into that thing,” He gave a dramatic flourish of his cane to point at the boat. “At which point everyone aboard gets to go down the most spectacular, thrilling, one-in-a-lifetime experience of a ride in the whole wide world! By the end of it, you guys’ll get a joggin’ to your noggins that should remind you guys of whatever it is you can’t remember! Pretty cool, huh?”

Peko narrowed her eyes warningly at the bear. “You still haven’t explained how this returns our memories. Surely it isn’t as simple as what you’ve said.”

Tsumugi cupped her cheek loosely. “Maybe there’s a flashback light on the ride? That would work, even if it’d plainly be a bit weird to have such a roundabout motive.”

“That’s actually something I have been wondering as well,” Kirumi added, looking to Monokuma with intense curiosity. “Though I… have not seen many, you did not seem particularly guarded with flashback lights before. What makes these memories significant enough that you are confident enough to present it as a motive alone?”

Monokuma seemed to smile a little wider. “Well… I did leave out one teensie detail. You might have noticed that there’s only one boat, and it can’t exactly fit a lot of you. That’s because this whole process is a little more in-depth than your run of the mill flashback light. I won’t spoil what exactly goes into it, but let’s just say it’s important enough that **I can’t afford to do more than four people at a time**.”

_ “Can’t afford it…?” _ Kaede thought, her brow furrowing at the strange phrasing. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Annoyingly, Monokuma decided to play dumb. “Hm? Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just a silly old bear rambling to himself. Point being, that’s how this thing works! Partially, anyways. **What exactly it brings back and what that does to them depends on the person**, so it’s hard to say what’ll happen. Maybe you’ll remember what happened to a sickly family member in need of help, or maybe some big betrayal someone else here put you through, or something else worth killing for all over again! Or, maybe you’ll just remember you left the stove on before you left for school that morning or something useless like that! Really, this is all up to each of you and how many dirty skeletons you guys have stinking up the closets!” Monokuma taunted, smiling devilishly at them all and giving a cocky wink. “So go ahead! What are ya waiting for? Give this a go and see where it leads you!”

With that, the bear abruptly sunk through the floor, leaving the fourteen teenagers to figure out where to go from there. Kaede looked among her fellow blackened discerningly before asking the biggest question on everyone’s minds. “... If that’s how it works, then… who’s going on?”

“Isn’t that obvious? The people that can’t remember shit should go on,” Mondo argued, waving vaguely at the crowd. “If this thing’s supposed to give memories back, why not let them remember? A man’s got a right to at least know what he’s done.”

“Agreed. That seems like the most logical move to me. Though I cannot claim objectivity on the matter, given the limited number of people Monokuma is allowing to use this at a time, using it on those with confirmed memory issues would be the best way to verify the legitimacy of his claims as well.” Kirumi supported, almost managing to conceal the faint hint of anxious hope in her voice.

Chiaki frowned, a glimmer of concern twinkling in her eyes. “Hang on. I get what you’re saying, but… that could be dangerous, I think.”

The Ultimate Maid seemed surprised by the remark. “Dangerous…? Please, explain.”

Nanami held up a finger. “It’s how he explained it. He mentioned ‘**what the memories do to them**’... that seems kind of ominous to me. That might have been to scare us, but… it could be that whatever he wants us to remember isn’t safe.”

“That is something I have to wonder as well,” Sakura rumbled, crossing her arms. “If this does restore our memories of our motives, isn’t it possible that it could cause one of us to kill again? It has been on my mind since the first day, but if this does as Monokuma says, it is more relevant than I’d thought.”

“If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t get on at all! Doing something we know is gonna hurt us is just crazy! Come on, guys; we couldn’t ignore the videos, but there’s nothing forcing us this time!” Kaito bellowed passionately.

Korekiyo shook his head. “But, that’s assuming it _ will _ be harmful. While the possibility certainly is present, is it not just as possible that these memories could give us what we need to understand our situation? Or perhaps even clarify things in such a way that further murders are avoided? I cannot promise either, but I can say with certainty we won’t know unless we try it.”

Tsumugi grimaced, wringing her hands. “Ah… both of you have good points. Things could go really bad if these memories are dangerous, but if we missed out on something important because we were scared to try it…”

“W-we’d be shootin’ o’selves inda foot…” Teruteru muttered nervously, his accent returning as the weight of the situation became more imposing.

Peko narrowed her eyes. “And if people already feel that way, there’s a strong possibility they will seek to go on the ride alone in case it’s true. That means ignoring it is bound to create problems as surely as going on as a group could.”

That was painful to hear even if Kaede agreed with it. She’d _ hoped _ they could ignore it, but if that cat wasn’t out of the bag when the group silently shunned her, it most definitely was now that Monokuma built the motive up so much. She watched the others twitch, looking over each other in thinly veiled suspicion and uncertainty as the words hung in the air and made it as heavy as lead. It made sense that Tanaka would be the one daunting enough to challenge it. “So, then, what are we to do about it?”

It was an open question, but strained as her position was, she was still the leader. It was her responsibility to protect them however she could from Monokuma’s efforts, and she’d be damned if she let the lives of any more of her friends slip between her fingers over something like this _ again _. If she wanted to prevent that, she had to do something.

Fortunately, she already had a solution in mind.

“... We don’t have much of a choice. If we don’t face this together, people will try to fix it on their own, and that can only end in disaster. I say we give it a ride.”

The surprise and dismay on Kaito and Chiaki’s faces stung as much as the palpable relief in the expressions of Mikan, Kirumi, and the others reassured her of the move. “What?! Kaede, I get you want to respect what everyone wants, but we just said this could be dangerous! Don’t be so naive!”

“Naive? Do you hear yourself, man?” Leon demanded gruffly. “Our _ memories _ are on this thing. Don’t you get what that means? Family, friends, stuff we did, crap that happened, why the _ hell _ any of this is going on to begin with; all of that’s up for grabs! No way am I gonna just pass up a chance to find out what the hell’s missing! She’s got the right idea!”

Kaito glared back as frustration replaced his surprise. “But that’s obviously what Monokuma _ wants _! I’m not saying to pass up on them; I’m saying we can’t trust that damn bear to tell us what’s really going on! He’s just gonna cherry pick things to try to turn us against each other!”

Chiaki, by contrast, was much more pragmatic in her disagreement. “... Are you sure this is a good idea, Kaede?”

_ “Honestly? No, I’m not. I’m just even less sure of the other choices,” _ Kaede drearily admitted only in her mind. She didn’t want to admit that doubt in front of her peers, however, opting to sidestep the question and put up the second half of her solution instead. “Like I said, I think we should do whatever keeps people safe. I know there’s risks involved, and I’m not any more comfortable with it than anyone else… but, I have an idea on how to keep that to a minimum.”

The words drew curious looks from supporters and detractors alike, all of them intrigued. “Oh? Please, explain, Kaede. We’re eager to hear your thoughts…” Korekiyo encouraged. The comment might have sounded sarcastic from anyone else, but with Kiyo, it managed to seem creepily earnest instead.

Brushing that off, Kaede held up a finger and started her explanation. “We said this thing could be dangerous if remembering their motive makes someone want to kill again, but at the same time, we need to make sure we don’t miss out on something important by not letting those people remember anything. If that’s the logic, then we should try to be smart about this. Two people that definitely can’t remember things get on with two people who remember their motives fine. That way, we can tell if getting the memories back is dangerous for them without all of you guys being affected, and see if there really are any memories Monokuma took from the rest of us.”

Sakura hummed in thought, closing her eyes. “That could help avoid the worst potential effects… but, if we’re assuming something will go wrong, we must be very careful with whom we let on. Anyone who could pose a significant immediate threat should stay behind. So, I will excuse myself.”

Peko gave a firm nod. “Agreed. Myself, Gonta, and Mondo would be unwise choices for the same reason.”

“Gonta alright with that. Gonta… not think he should take chance anyway…” The entomologist quietly agreed, expression somber as his eyes flickered with a pain that shouldn’t belong on such a friendly person.

Mondo tightened his jaw, putting his hands in his coat pockets. “No skin off my back, but that leaves ten of us. So, who’s it gonna be?”

Immediately, Leon pointed to himself. “Me. I don’t care who else gets on, but I’m getting some answers, damn it!”

Kaede hadn’t expected him to so adamantly volunteer. She didn’t want to insinuate anything about him, but Leon didn’t exactly strike her as the sort to willingly rush headlong into danger. She looked at him with a mix of concern, respect, and scrutiny. “Are you s-”

“Hell yes I’m sure! I’m not gonna get talked out of this!” Leon snapped irritatedly. He was definitely uneasy and agitated, but there was also a determination in his gaze she’d never seen from him before. She couldn’t say for sure what exactly he was hoping to remember, but it was plain to see he had every intention of doing just that, no matter what.

Slowly, Kaede nodded, conceding. “Okay. Leon’s going on…” She confirmed, and before anyone else could volunteer, she put the final part of her plan into play. “... and if this thing does turn out to be dangerous, I’d rather take it than let any of you get hurt. I’m going too.”

That much was the truth. She’d let herself die a thousand times over if it meant they could go free. She just wished that selflessness was her only reason for getting on the ride. If it was, there wouldn’t be the sting of guilt for once again lying by omission by pretending she was confident in her memories, something she absolutely could not reveal under any circumstances. Admitting something like that would sap away what negligible credibility she still had left, and so her only option was to be dishonest. She _ needed _ these memories back if she was going to get to the bottom of all this. So, she’d stretch the truth.

A familiar voice scoffed in her mind. _ “Because that’s worked so well so far…” _

Heedless of her internal conflict, most of the others readily accepted her volunteering. Kirumi, however, knew the blonde’s weaknesses better than most. “Kaede… please do not feel as though you _ have _ to put yourself in danger. If this is your choice, I will not try to stop you, but there is no duty to potentially harm yourself.”

Kaede pursed her lips, but gave a small nod. “I know, but even so, I mean it.”

Kirumi’s emerald eye lingered on her for a few more moments, searching for something Kaede didn’t know, before ultimately closing. “As you wish,” She reluctantly agreed. She took a quiet, steadying breath as she folded her hands in front of her. “So, then, the remaining passengers are going to be those who lack their memories…”

Hesitantly, Teruteru raised up his hand, initially seeming to volunteer, but his words came as a surprise. “A-Ah don’ think Ah should be on dis thing. Ah’m gonna sit it out.”

That was odd enough on its own, but the curious looks of his comrades were even stranger. “Hold on. Was it not your desire for knowledge that secured your place in this hell to begin with? Why turn your back on it now that it lingers just out of grasp, Herald of Eros?” Tanaka demanded.

“Wh- are ya kiddin’ me?! Y’ just answered yer own question, y’ idjit!” Teruteru snapped, balling his tiny hands into fists and waving them furiously. “Las’ time Ah wan’d some’tin like dat, s-some’on died! A-an me, too! Ain’ no way in hell Ah’m le’in that happen again!”

“It’s alright, Mister Hanamura. There’s no need to explain wanting to go on or not,” Kirumi soothed, shooting a warning glare at Gundham from the corner of her eye. “Nor should anyone press for it.”

Gundham didn’t bother with a retort, simply crossing his arms and meeting Tojo’s glare as she attempted to calm down her furious assistant. Teruteru eventually seemed to regain his balance through a very brief and quiet conversation that ended with him muttering something about being fine and likely some sort of related innuendo from Tojo’s flat look and his weakly laughing apologies. She sighed softly as she rose back to full height and regarded the curious observers, “As he said, Mister Hanamura is barring himself from the motive, so our pool of options has narrowed further. In light of that, I would-”

“I believe I would like to go on as well,” Korekiyo suddenly interrupted, running a pair of fingers along the brim of his hat as he stepped forward. “Though I usually don’t care about Monokuma’s motives one way or the other, this opportunity intrigues me. I apologize if I am intruding on anyone else’s plans, but would you be willing to grant me this _ request _?” The Ultimate Anthropologist asked with pointed emphasis, looking directly into Kirumi’s eyes as he spoke.

Kirumi looked as if she’d been struck, staring at Korekiyo like a deer in headlights. Kaede was just as taken aback because she knew _ exactly _ what Korekiyo was doing. She’d pulled this trick on Kirumi several times herself, after all.

Kirumi would never refuse a request she could fulfill. It was a dedication as admirable as it was exploitable. So long as it was possible and didn’t breach Tojo’s code, she would do everything in her power to do it. Kaede had used it to make Kirumi take breaks so she didn’t literally work herself to the bone, but clearly Korekiyo had been paying attention and noticed the same loophole. The maestro felt a spike of disgust shoot up her spine. He _ knew _ how vulnerable Kirumi was to that, and he was exploiting that to make sure he could get on? The thought filled her with indignation. How could he do that?! “Korekiyo, that’s-”

“That is fine, Mister Shinguji.” Kirumi said as if Kaede hadn’t said anything, much to the musician’s surprise. She blinked, opening her mouth to try and argue against it, but fell silent when Kirumi glanced towards her almost reproachfully. It was hard to determine anything exact from the complicated mix of emotions in the maid’s gaze, but there was a definite firmness to it that silently commanded her not to say anything. It was the same kind of look Kirumi had given her when Celeste exposed her lie during the trial, one she’d hoped she’d never have to experience again. She didn’t understand why, at first, but after a few moments, a thought clicked in her head.

_ “... Does she not _ ** _want_ ** _ me to call Korekiyo out? But… why not? It’s not right for him to do that! She shouldn’t let him use that to get what he wants! That’s totally disrespectful to her! It’s-” _

…

...

… It’s exactly what Kirumi let _ her _ do, isn’t it?

That realization froze her mind in place, stunning her as she tried to process what that entailed, but the others weren’t under any such affliction. Korekiyo tipped his hat gratefully. “Thank you, Kirumi. Now then, that leaves one final person to accompany us aboard the ride. Who will it be, I wonder…?”

Kirumi opened her mouth likely with the intention of volunteering as she so clearly wanted to, but it was Mikan that spoke up first. “I-I want to. P-please. I k-know it’s selfish, b-but I’d really like to… n-no, I _ need _ to...” Mikan whimpered softly, her head hung in shame. Kirumi stared at her for a moment, seemingly surprised to have been beaten to the punch once again, but she made the mistake of letting the smallest hint of frustration show through her mask as she closed her eyes and subtly tightened her grip on her folded hands. Mikan’s reaction was immediate and dramatic, flinching back and throwing her hands up pleadingly as if Tojo had lunged at her. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! Y-you can go first! P-please don’t be mad! I-”

Kirumi shook her head, silently holding up a hand to sooth the panicking nurse. “It’s quite alright, Miss Tsumiki. I do not mind waiting if you wish to go first. Pardon my bluntness, but it’s clear this is taking a larger toll on you than it is for myself. It would be selfish of me to deny you this.”

Mikan looked at her, hope and regret swirling together in her eyes. “A-are you s-sure? I really can wait if you want me to...”

“I insist. Please, go on.” Kirumi said with a firm reassurance, her voice like steel covered by a plush blanket. The maid didn’t say anything further, carefully keeping her expression as neutral as she could manage despite how she was doubtlessly feeling.

Gundham was less willing to go along with the request. “Hold on. Is it truly wise to allow the Temptress to board? Though what drove her eludes my memory as surely as it does her own, it would be foolish to forget that she brought an end to not one but _ two _ other mortals. If whatever hex inspired her crimes returns to her, she could be a considerable threat to the likes of you. Is that worth the risk?”

Those words might as well have been a fist for how harshly they struck Mikan, the girl letting out a sharp gasp as tears rushed to her eyes. Unlike most instances Kaede had seen, however, these tears seemed to be just as much from fear as they were sorrow. Horror glimmered in those sad lavender eyes as her imagination doubtlessly painted nightmarish scenes off of Gundham’s implication, scarring the poor girl with guilt for things that hadn’t even happened and might not at all.

The anguish on her face was simply too much for Kaede to stand by and watch, ripping her from her own dreadful self-realization as she sprung to her friend’s defense. “Hey, that’s not fair! You can’t hold that against her; not when none of us are any better. It’s no more of a risk than anyone else that can’t remember,” She argued, pointing scoldingly at the Ultimate Breeder. After a moment, her gaze slid back to the nurse, who still looked to be in shock from the comments. “Besides,” Kaede walked over to Mikan and held out a friendly hand to her. “I believe in her.”

Mikan’s eyes widened with disbelief bordering on wonder, looking at the blonde as if she were an angel. Kaede gave a reassuring smile to try to ease the fear out of her friend, to mixed results, as while there was a twinkle of hope in her gaze, there was also a distinct look of dread darkening her features stronger than before. “Y-you r-really believe in me, e-even though…?”

Kaede nodded. “Of course I do. I know there’s no way you’d do something like that again even if you did remember something terrible. I know you have the strength to fight it.”

The Ultimate Nurse seemed a bit dubious, seeming to be doubtful of the words, but so touched by the sentiment that she _ wanted _ to believe in it. Her conflicted silence would end up being a window for someone else to speak on the matter, however.

“Knowing and believing are different things,” Peko pointedly noted, fixing the pair with a flat look for the foolhardy notion. Her look didn’t soften, exactly, but seemed to transform into something a bit less hostile and more analytical. “However… I don’t think there’s a much stronger risk from her than anyone else missing their memories. She lacks any particular physical strength, so overpowering is not a concern, and your vigilance already proves she likely couldn’t hide any ill intentions if something did happen. At minimum, I don’t think it’s anything that cannot be resolved through keeping a close watch on her, something we should be doing for anyone going on this ride anyway.”

Mikan’s fear slowly seemed to ebb away, a slight sense of relief coming over her expression. “S-so, i-it really is okay for me to g-go on?” She asked more or less to the room at large, her voice wavering with a fragile hopefulness. No one objected, either giving confirming nods, vocal approval, or simply no reaction at all, much to Tsumiki’s relief. “Th-thank you! I don’t really know how to say it as much as I feel it, b-but this really, _ really _ means a lot to me. I-if anyone wants any favors, I’ll do whatever you want to pay you back!”

Kaede cringed hard enough to hurt at that. “It’s fine! Really! No one’s gonna ask you to do more than you already do, _ right _?” She stated firmly, her voice making it clear who’d they have to answer to if anyone proved intent on actually cashing in Mikan’s offer. She didn’t expect anything, but she’d prefer to have the nurse’s bases covered just in case.

“H-huh? Are you sure? I-I really am okay with anything…” Mikan insisted, unwittingly making things even worse for herself. Thankfully not even Teruteru saw fit to try anything, though whether that was because of her unspoken threat or the group’s own morals was uncertain, even if she’d like to think it was the latter. Tsumiki bafflingly seemed almost disappointed by that. “O-oh… well, then, I promise to try to find something important, then! Anything important!”

Kaede smiled reassuringly with a supportive nod. Not exactly great, but anything that kept Tsumiki functional was welcome. In the quiet that followed, she truly believed that would be the end of it, but at the last second, an unexpected source made a request. 

“Wait… can I ask for one thing?” The Ultimate Gamer suddenly asked, a newfound seriousness dowering her expression. 

Kaede looked at her taken aback and slightly suspiciously as she approached. “Huh? Chiaki, what-”

Mikan vigorously nodded and unintentionally cut her off. “A-absolutely! Anything you want! Y-you can hit me, or yell at me, or-”

Chiaki shook her head and continued up to the nurse until the two were practically within hugging distance. “No, nothing like that...” Nanami began before dropping her voice to a faint whisper even Kaede struggled to hear from the distance, “_ Mikan… I need you to give me those needles you have, okay? Just to be safe? _”

Akamatsu’s eyes widened as the gamer’s words struck like a bell in her head. She’d completely forgotten about it after everything that had happened over the last few days, but she _ did _ remember Mikan revealing she had syringes and some unknown vial on her a few days ago. _ “I never even thought about that… oh, god. If something did go wrong, and she was faster than the rest of us could react-” _

She wouldn’t have time to finish that fearful thought as Mikan made the same conclusion, going slightly pale and nodding even more vigorously than before as she hastily retrieved a medical box from her apron’s pocket and gave it to Chiaki. “R-right! I’m sorry! I-it didn’t even cross my mind, b-but… here! Please!”

Chiaki quietly accepted the box with a bow of her head, muttering a quick ‘thanks’ before stepping back in with the rest of the crowd. She drew a few confused looks from her peers, but even the ones that couldn’t put two and two together didn’t care to question what it was about, their thoughts likely focused on what would come next. Kaede looked around at her fellow prisoners, gauging their reactions as she asked the most important question at hand. “Well, if that’s settled, then… is everyone ready to go on?”

“More than ready. Let’s do this, man!” Leon passionately affirmed, pumping his fists in front of him in clear anticipation.

“Agreed. It will be fascinating to learn what has been taken from me…” Korekiyo hummed.

“Y-yes. Um, to be honest, I’m a little s-scared… b-but, I’ll do this! I have to!” Mikan declared almost as if trying to convince herself of that statement. 

Kaede certainly wasn’t going to try to dissuade her of that courage. She nodded, turning from the three going on the ride to the rest of her friends. “Alright. Then, let’s not waste any time. We’re going on. Anything we find out, we’ll let you guys know as soon as we can. We’ll be back soon. Stay here and stay safe, guys.”

Kirumi bowed her head, managing to conceal most of the frustration Kaede was certain she was feeling. “Same to you, Kaede. Please be careful, all of you.”

There was a small wave of similar sentiments from the crowd, but one well-wisher on this unlikely voyage wasn’t someone she expected to speak up for it. “... Hey. I still don’t agree with this, but if you’re dead set on following through, then I know you’ve got this. Just don’t let whatever crap he’s pushing get to you, alright?” Kaito said with a solemn expression. 

It was still so strange for her to see whenever the Ultimate Astronaut became so serious, but it was also grounding, in a way. Kaede nodded resolutely. “We won’t, Kaito. I promise.”

Whether that promise was one she could actually keep or the others actually agreed with, her compatriots didn’t feel the need to say otherwise. The answer proved enough for Momota, at least, who returned the nod despite his frown. “Good. See you on the other side, guys.”

Exchanging the last of their farewells, Kaede and her unlikely party proceeded over to the small boat and settled in. It was a little cramped for her tastes, as Mikan had to sit uncomfortably close just to fit on the ride to the point that the nurse would barely have to tilt her head to rest it on Kaede’s shoulder. Leon was similarly trying his best to inch away from Korekiyo as much as possible without falling out of the thing, though Shinguji didn’t particularly seem to mind as he calmly folded his hands in his lap and waited for the ride to begin. She looked around for a seatbelt or a pulldown of some sort, but Monokuma had apparently forgone those precautions, to her slight concern. A tunnel of love probably wouldn’t be all that dangerous of a ride, but still. A few moments ticked by without anything happening, making Kaede’s brow slowly furrow in confusion.

Leon summed it up best. “Uh… is it gonna go or what…?”

“Perhaps there’s some sort of mechanism that must be activated first?” Shinguji suggested idly.

Kaito looked around the room, putting a hand on his hip. “I don’t see a panel or anything out here. What gives? If he wants us to ride it so bad, you’d think he’d actually have a way to get it-”

Just as he started to complain, there was an abrupt lurch from the raft before it began slowly drifting forward, the soft hum of a starting intercom signaling the start of the ride. “_ Ahem… oh, good, it’s on! Welcome one and all to the fun-tastic ride down memory lane here in the Tunnel of Secrets! Before we go down this despairing little voyage, however, please listen to some helpful information that might help make sure you get off of this thing alive! _ ” Monokuma’s tinnier-than-usual voice declared, making the four trapped students glance at each other curiously as the doors ahead of them opened as they passed through and he apparently made his way down a checklist. “ _ First, for your safety, please keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all times, or you might just lose them! It’d be an awful shame if one of my beloved students died because an alligator chomped their hand off or something! _”

Korekiyo let out a dry scoff. “How thoughtful.”

“H-hey… he’s joking about the alligator, right?” Leon muttered with a painfully forced grin.

“_ Maybe! Maybe not! Guess you’ll find out! _ ” The bear taunted, confirming this was indeed in real time as opposed to a pre-recorded message. “ _ Second! You might notice there aren’t any restraints on this ride. That’s intentional. If one of you falls out, good luck! Consider it a reason to get nice and cozy so your friends have an easier time stabbing you in the back! Third, no recording equipment of any kind! We here at Felony Funland put way too much effort into making this thing for you brats to put it online so people could experience it for free! _”

“Because sharing this stupid ride instead of calling for help is definitely what I’d do if I had a signal here…” Kaede sassed under her breath. She was sure it was just a tactic to get their guard down, but that didn’t make it any less dumb.

The boat had progressed a fair distance now, passing through a dimly lit hall that ended in another set of double-doors. That seemed to be their destination as Monokuma moved to wrap up his monologue. “_ Last but not least, have fun, but not too much fun! If you want to kill someone by the time you get off this ride, make sure to make it interesting! With that said, Felony Funland is proud to present… _”

The doors swung open to a blinding light, but the familiar jaunty melody being absolutely butchered on the accordion confirmed what they’d gotten themselves into even before her eyes adjusted to the light and Monokuma made his last delighted announcement. “_ It’s a Bear’s World! _”

The scene before them was an absolute eyesore. A mock-up park under much too bright spotlights served as the backdrop for at least a few dozen dolls like the ones from the park’s opening ceremony, each of them robotically dancing to the tune with over-eager smiles. These dolls were probably based off of Ultimates if the extravagant outfits and hairstyles were any indication. Though they weren’t currently singing, Kaede didn’t hold out hope that it would stay that way.

Leon’s groan sounded off at the exact same moment as Kaede sighed, Korekiyo laughed, and Mikan gave a sound of delight. “Oh, for the love of- are you freaking kidding me?!” The redhead demanded as he slapped his forehead in exasperated disbelief.

“Oh, I believe this is very much a ‘kid’ on Monokuma’s part. It’s honestly a somewhat amusing one as well. Turning an attraction so often mocked as a form of torture into a motive is clever in how blatantly obvious it is, even if I for one quite enjoyed the original…” Korekiyo hummed, amusement dancing in his serpentine eyes as they flicked over the animatronics.

“Ah! You like that ride too?! That’s g-great! I n-never got to go on it, but the pictures I’ve seen are so cute! A-and the song is so nice!” Mikan gasped out delightedly, clasping her hands together with a big smile as she looked back to Kiyo.

Kuwata groaned again, sinking into his seat as he massaged her temples. “You’re kidding me. You two actually like that piece of crap? I didn’t think _ anyone _ liked it! I can’t believe that damn bear tricked me into getting on this thing!”

Kaede glanced back slightly scoldingly. “Come on; you’re being dramatic. I mean, sure, it’s not my _ favorite _ song or anything like that, and the dolls can be a little creepy but it’s supposed to make people happy. And besides, it’s about friendship and harmony! You can’t hate something like tha-”

Just as she was about to say that, the boat must have reached a trigger, as the animatronics all simultaneously swerved their heads to look at them and began to sing in a distinctly Monokuma-like voice.

_ “It’s a world of missteps, full of despair _

_ You could die now, and nobody would care! _

_ When you do, we won’t cry _

_ ‘Cause you’ll all realize _

_ It’s a bear’s world after all!” _

Kaede’s words died in her throat, slaughtered by the absolute monstrosity of a verse she’d just heard. It wasn’t helped by the chorus repeating the phrase over and over, each repetition seeming to make Leon’s ‘you were saying’ look more and more pointed. Even Korekiyo looked baffled, his eyebrows knitted in a slight grimace as the group was subjected to a Monokuma musical number for the second time that week. She glanced over to Mikan, who had been humming along, but abruptly stopped when she noticed the exasperated looks of her friends. “S-sorry! I didn’t think you’d hear! I-I’ll shut up!”

“That’s… really not the problem, Mikan…” Kaede said slowly as it dawned on her just what a headache they were in for.

Korekiyo hummed under his breath a little. “Quite… I should have suspected something like this would occur. I don’t believe I’m particularly surprised… but I am doubtlessly disappointed.”

“If I wasn’t pretty sure it’d kill me if I left, I’d already be off this stupid thing.” Leon deadpanned.

Kaede sighed and shook her head. “Alright, alright. It’s bad, but it’s just one of his dumb jokes. Remember what really matters here. We have to be ready for whatever’s supposed to give us our memories back, so that means we’re just going to have to push through it.”

_ “It won’t be long before your life is done _

_ And you were never loved by anyone _

_ Kill and run, for you see _

_ In this reality _

_ It’s a bear’s world after all!” _

Kaede grimaced. “... _ Really _ push through it.

The next several minutes were among the most annoying of her entire life. 

Even as the scenery and puppets gradually changed themes, the song stayed _ exactly _ the same on a loop for the entire duration, going from mildly cringe-inducing at first to actively irritating very quickly. Leon’s grumbles and groans became a near-constant din in the background almost like a secondary instrumental. Korekiyo’s initial amusement didn’t take long to change into stone-faced vexation, though he remained silent other than the occasional snap at Leon to stop fidgeting so much lest he knock the boat over. The anthropologist took out a notebook and started scribbling at some point, though whether he was making notes about what the ride was like or his fellow passengers’ behavior was up in the air. Only Mikan’s enthusiasm seemed to remain, the nurse quietly humming once she was reassured they wouldn’t hate her for doing so. Kaede couldn’t imagine _ why _ she was still entertained by this thing, but she wasn’t about to shame someone into being as miserable as the rest of them.

Kaede, for her part, was trying to keep her focus on her surroundings despite how grating they were. She wasn’t completely able to tune the song out, the notes being obnoxiously misplayed seemingly at random to keep it unpredictable, but she kept her eyes peeled for whatever Monokuma was hoping to distract them from. She figured it would either be part of the dolls themselves or in the set-dressing, so she was sure to carefully examine each new area the ride passed through.

The first couple minutes seemed to be a fairly generic if nice park theme with dolls of various people she didn’t recognize roving around the grounds before the boat passed through a set of doors themed like the entrance of what looked like a particularly large school. Once ‘inside’, it bore a resemblance to the plain hallway they’d initially walked through to get aboard, but more interestingly was the fact that the dolls in this room included a few familiar faces. Animatronics of Leon, Mondo, Celeste, Hifumi, and Sakura merrily partook in the musical number, much to Kuwata’s especial irritation when he saw his own figurine. Each of them except Sakura was paired up with a doll of someone she didn’t recognize but had a sinking suspicion they were their victims, though the miniature Ogami seemed to be pretty close to six other dolls. It was curious enough that Kaede was sure to make a mental note of it, but didn’t have anything to go off of beyond that.

The pattern continued for another few rooms, one with an island theme that had copies of Teruteru, Peko, Mikan, Gundham, and Chiaki, and more importantly, another she clearly recognized as a mock-up of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles with dolls herself and her friends. They both followed the same general figurine layout as the first room, but oddly, the display based off her killing game had herself, Rantaro, Tsumugi, and Keebo bunched together and a second cluster with Shuichi, Himiko, and Maki trailing somewhat near the toy of the Ultimate Robot. She did a double take when she first saw it, her sense of bewilderment growing the longer she looked. If her killer-victim theory was correct, why were she and Rantaro so close to Tsumugi and Keebo when the other pairs were more appropriately spaced out? And why were those three in particular clumped next to Keebo, for that matter? If her theory was wrong, then what logic was there for most of the pairings to align and then just have some randomly out of place?

_ “Or does any of this actually mean anything beyond Monokuma trying to get under my skin?” _ Kaede thought, conflicted. It certainly wouldn’t be out of character for the bear to try to make them read too deeply into things and go down rabbit holes they shouldn’t. But, she’d studied music her entire life. She knew a pattern when she saw one. If the dolls were supposed to mean something, it could be dangerous for her to simply write them off…

Her uneasy musings would have to wait, however, as the dinghy slowly pulled away into a tunnel apparently modeled after the Death Road of Despair based on the sign hanging above, much to Kaede’s chagrin. The sight of the familiar sign was finally enough to spark a reaction from Korekiyo, who had long since fallen silent other than an occasional faint ‘interesting’ under his breath. “Keheh… I wonder if this will reveal what I suspect…”

“Would you stop being so cryptic, dude? Seriously, it’s really starting to piss me off…” Leon grumbled, giving the anthropologist a side-glare as they advanced into the dark tunnel.

Korekiyo pulled down on his cap. “If I’m correct, you’ll see in just a moment.”

“I h-hope so. I d-don’t like being in the dark…!” Mikan whimpered pitifully. Consciously or not, the frightful girl began pressing closer against Kaede, to her confliction. On the one hand, she was more than willing to comfort a friend. On the other hand, despite her flirts and teases, it felt _ way _ more intimate than she was comfortable with, the fact that two guys were witnessing it not helping that in the slightest.

Just as she made the decision to say something, however, a chorus of voices emanated from the darkness all around them.

_ “It’s a world of madness; a world of pain _

_ So don’t pretend that you won’t go insane!” _

The lights abruptly flicked on to reveal a final mock-up, this time of the Despair of the Seas with the earlier puppets of Kaede and her fellow prisoners joined by the Monokubs and Monokuma himself all joyfully joining together into a harmony that sounded like rusty nails on a chalkboard.

_ “You are just a monster down at your core _

_ So why not embrace it forever more! _

_ And with every new kill _

_ You’ll learn to love the thrill _

_ ‘Cause it’s a bear’s world after all!” _

Kaede tensed, expecting something to happen the moment the verse finished… yet, the song and puppets simply continued as normal, much to her bewilderment.

_ “It’s a bear’s world after all!” _

“Wh- oh, come _ on _! Is this seriously still going?!” The baseball star groaned.

_ “It’s a bear’s world after all!” _

“So it would seem…” Shinguji sighed.

_ “It’s a bear’s world after all!” _

Kaede knitted her brow as she watched the bizarre display. “I don’t get it. Did we miss something? How was any of that supposed to- huh?”

It was at that moment Kaede noticed the dolls of herself, Leon, Korekiyo, and Mikan had slowly been drawing closer and closer to the front until they were completely ahead of the pack mere feet away from the boat. More alarmingly, it was at that same moment she realized the eyes of each doll appeared to be faintly glimmering as if charging up in some way. A sudden spike of alarm shot up Kaede’s spine. “Wait, what’s-”

_ “It’s a-” _

In an instant, the glimmering became shining and just as quickly blinding, a cacophony of deafening unplaceable noise as the world exploded into a searing, all-encompassing white.

***

_ Hope’s Peak Academy. _

_ That name embodied a great many things. Hope, talent, prestige, exceptionalism, the list goes on. Anyone not living under a rock knew what it was. It was almost like a myth for how incredible its alumni were. Almost anyone stepping through that gate and gazing up at the monumental tower of a school as a student couldn’t be judged too harshly for thinking they were in a dream. _

_ Kaede Akamatsu was no different. In fact, the only thing that came to her mind were four simple words. _

** _“I can’t believe it!”_ **

_ That thought had been repeating in her head over and over practically non-stop for weeks now. It was almost enough to get on even her own nerves, but she couldn’t help it; she was excited! _

_ No, that would be an understatement. She’d be excited about being asked to play at another big auditorium, or coming up with a new scale to try out, or getting asked to hang out with her peers for once. This? This blew all of that out of the water! Heck, it made performing for that king seem like small potatoes! _

_ She was an Ultimate! Kaede Akamatsu, the _ ** _Ultimate Pianist_ ** _ … just the thought of it made delighted laughter bubble out and her whole body shake with boundless energy. Even weeks after the letter arrived, it still felt like a dream. She’d been in the middle of Vivaldi’s _ ** _Four Seasons_ ** _ when her dad and sister rushed into the room with broad smiles and a certain envelope in hand that would change her life forever. In an instant, she’d gone from simply being a girl who liked piano to being one of the country’s most respected prodigies without changing a thing about herself. Her passion had written her a promise of success just for doing what she loved, all courtesy of the Ultimate Program and the _ ** _amazing_ ** _ school she got to attend as part of it! _

_ That was what led to this moment. Kaede stood there marveling at the tremendous structure as if it were the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life. In a way, it really was. The building itself was just that, a building, but she admired everything it represented. Dedication, harmony, _ ** _hopefulness_ ** _ … It was a school not simply for the most talented people in the world, but the _ ** _best_ ** _ people in the country. _

_ And she was part of it. _

_ More butterflies flew around inside her. As amazing as that thought was, it was kind of terrifying. She was at the best school in the _ ** _world_ ** _ . She was expected to be a representative of all the lofty ideals the school embodied on top of being peers with the best and brightest humanity had to offer. People that went to this school were the sorts that became nation-defining politicians, world-famous performers, and barons of industry… and then there was her, the girl better known as Piano Freak than by her actual name among most of her old school. _

_ Would she actually fit in here? Sure, Ultimates were generally understood to be rather eccentric and devoted to their niches as a general rule, but that didn’t mean they’d find her any less weird. Playing piano was bound to seem pretty lame compared to a lot of the talents at the school she’d heard rumors of. If everyone had their own hobby going on, then would anyone even be interested in hers? It felt petty to wonder, but it was a nerve-racking thought. She’d only had a few loose friendships over the years that were more like slightly positive acquaintanceships, so coming to this school theoretically served as a fresh start on that front. But, by the same token, if the oft-proclaimed hopes of the world didn’t find her worthwhile… _

_ Kaede shook her head vigorously. _ ** _“Stop it; there’s no point in getting worried over what _ ** _ might _ ** _ happen. Come on; you’ll do great! You just need to give it a try with someone. Like…”_ ** _ She scanned over the surrounding area curious to find if there were any other students milling about she could try to strike up a conversation with. The few she did see already seemed to be having lively discussions with their own friends, something she didn’t want to inadvertently crash by hopping in. But, after a few moments, she finally noticed someone sitting alone on a bench a little bit ahead of her. _ ** _“... Ah! Maybe that guy?”_ **

_ The closer Akamatsu got to the person on the bench, the more Kaede could tell they were clearly feeling just as uneasy. Though much of their face was hidden beneath the brim of a black baseball cap, their nervousness was evident in their body language between their bouncing leg and fiercely gripped kneecaps. That black uniform also made them look awfully small compared to the lush scenery of the school, something that wouldn’t surprise her if it was intentional. They were looking up at the building just as she was moments ago, though more open about the sheer intimidation of being there. In a way, that was kind of a good sign. If she wasn’t the only one feeling nervous, maybe the others wouldn’t be as far out of her league as she thought. _

_ With that hopeful thought in mind, Kaede put on a big smile and called out to the other student. “Hi there!” _

_ The figure jumped a little in their seat with a startled but quickly silenced yelp, apparently taken by surprise. “Yagh-! O-oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were there. Um, hi...” A soft, male voice shyly answered back, a pair of yellowish-grey eyes momentarily flicking up to her before quickly being hidden as he tugged on his hat. _

_ Kaede stifled a grimace, shaking her head. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I just wanted to come introduce myself. I’m Kaede Akamatsu!” _

_ The boy seemed both more relaxed and nervous somehow, as if one worry had been traded off for a slightly lesser one. “Ah… I’m Shuichi Saihara. It’s nice to meet you.” _

_ “You too!” The musician beamed at Shuichi. After a moment, it occurred to her there was something he left out. “You’re another student, right? What’s your talent?” _

_ Apparently, that was the wrong thing to ask, as Shuichi flinched a bit at the question. “O-oh. Um… I’m technically the Ultimate Detective, but I don’t think I’ve earned that. I’m still just in training. I only solved _ ** _that case_ ** _ through luck, anyway…” _

_ Akamatsu frowned, crossing her arms. “I’m not a detective, but I don’t think you can just do something like that through luck. Hope’s Peak had to choose you for a reason, right?” _

_ Saihara stayed silent for a long moment only to change the topic when he did speak up. “... Maybe, but… I don’t think you said your talent, either. You’re... a pianist, right?” _

_ Kaede blinked. “Huh? Wow, you really are a detective! How’d you figure it out?” _

_ “Sorry; it’s not all that impressive. I just remembered hearing there would be an Ultimate Pianist this year, and with your hairpins and the notes on your clothes, I just made a guess.” Shuichi downplayed. _

_ “That’s still really cool! Piecing something together from just a couple hints is amazing,” She praised. He didn’t look very comforted by her words, however, so she decided to try a different approach. “Besides, my guess for you was way off. I figured you were the Ultimate Male Model or something. You’ve definitely got the looks for it.” _

_ The pale detective looked up at her in flustered alarm, a bit of color dusting his pale features as he stared wide-eyed. “Wh- huh?!” _

_ A cheeky giggle escaped her. “Kidding! Mostly. But, my point is, you shouldn’t sell yourself short. I’m sure you’re a great detective. Just try to keep your chin up and keep that in mind, and things will turn out better than you think.” _

_ Saihara was still tenser than she would like, but she was pleased to see a thin ghost of a smile pull at his lips even as he subtly tried to hide behind his hat. “... Thank you. I don’t really know about that, but… mysteries have to be looked at from different angles to figure things out. Maybe this could be similar, if what you’re saying is true.” _

_ Kaede merrily clasped her hands together. “That’s the spirit, Shuichi! Keep that up and you’ll feel up to your title in no time!” _

_ An amicable silence fell over the two for a few moments before a bell tolled, catching the pair’s attention. “Ah… the orientation ceremony should be starting soon, if I remember correctly. Attending it isn’t required, but a lot of the Ultimates do...” _

_ Kaede nodded, a bit disappointed to have things cut short, but eager to officially start her tenure at the school. “Right. I guess I should probably get going,” She agreed, but paused as a thought came to her. He specifically said _ ** _Ultimates_ ** _ go to it after talking about how he didn’t really earn his title. Maybe she was just reading too deeply into things, but if that was the logic he was working under, then did that mean he intended to miss out on it? If that was the case, then there was no way she could let that slide without at least trying to win him over. Smiling, she held out a hand to the boy. “... Hey, Shuichi? I don’t know if we’ll end up in the same class or not, but do you want to go together? I think it’ll be fun.” _

_ Shuichi opened his mouth, but hesitated, indirectly confirming her suspicions as a silent debate played out in his lone visible eye. Slowly, however, a frail smile came back to him and he carefully accepted her hand. “... If you’re sure, then… yeah. I think that sounds-” _

***

** _Thisshig rrrerrk…_ **

A harsh crackle of static pierced her mind, drowning out the sound and sending her vision awash. It was as disorientating as it was sudden, stretching on for an eternity yet only lasting for a few seconds until-

***

_ “-nice. I hope you had a good time too, Kaede.” _

_ Kaede blinked, the sound of her name ripping her away from her thoughts. Confusion dominated her mind as she quickly glanced around. What was… oh, that’s right. _

_ She was in the music room, as she so often was. She loved it here. After all, with such a lovely piano dutifully waiting for her each day and the school’s generous supply of music books, how couldn’t she? Even as a dutiful student, she probably spent twice as much time in here as she did in class. _

_ It was especially easy to see why right now with the soft orange glow of the afternoon sun gently streaming in from the windows and painting everything within in a beautiful sheen. The keys of the piano, the pages of sheet music in front of her, and last but certainly not least her playing partner- _

_ Wait, what was- oh! Kaede quickly swerved her head to find Shuichi looking at her contentedly. It was unbelievable how different he looked these days. Little had actually changed in his appearance, but his change in mannerisms made him seem like another person altogether. Barely a year ago he couldn’t so much as talk to her without trying to disappear under that old hat of his, and now here he was looking her in the eyes with a warm, easy smile. A warm feeling rose in her chest. She was so proud of him… _

_ The corner’s of Shuichi’s lips twitched a little bit. “Uh… Kaede?” _

_ “Huh? O-oh! Sorry. I kind of spaced out there. You know how I am when we start playing...” Akamatsu chuckled despite her embarrassment. _

_ Shuichi gave a small laugh of his own. “It’s fine. I was just saying I hope you had a nice birthday.” _

_ The Ultimate Pianist lit up at that. “Of course! You guys are amazing! Getting to hang out with you and everyone else is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for. I don’t know how you managed to convince Kokichi not to pick any fights for once.” _

_ “It helps that he likes you. I don’t think he’d listen to me if it was Miu or Keebo’s party.” The detective replied wryly. _

_ Kaede rolled her eyes. “Great. Does that mean I should be expecting a mariachi band and dumptruck of rose petals like he did when he decided he ‘liked’ Kaito?” _

_ Shuichi grimaced a bit. “I hope not, but nothing’s impossible with him. I’m still not sure where he got the money for that the first time.” He admitted, causing a laugh to tumble forth from her and draw one from Shuichi in turn. _

_ It was nice to reflect on the antics of her goofier classmates. Though there was no shortage of eccentrics among her class, the ones involving her and Shuichi’s favorite frenemy tended to be both the most annoying in the moment and amusing in hindsight. She’d never encourage it to his face, but honestly, she was kind of glad to have someone as chaotic as Kokichi around. It helped keep things light, especially with how scary the news had been lately. _

_ Her smile slowly started to fade as unwanted memories bubbled to the surface. She’d never been one to follow the news that closely, but it was practically impossible to go a day without hearing about some new crisis popping up somewhere anymore. Tensions in the streets getting worse, international worries rising, a handful of terrorist attacks not all that long ago, and that _ ** _weird group_ ** _ saying those were good things… hell, at this point, even the stupid rumors that meteors were going to hit the planet didn’t sound too impossible with how badly things were going. _

_ She’d tried not to think about it very much because of how stressful it was, but that had been getting harder as of late. Every day brought another set of dour headlines on her phone and the occasional statement by the school on the worst events. Shuichi didn’t talk about it partially for her sake, but she wasn’t blind to the fact that his desk was littered with far more case files in the last couple months than she’d seen in almost a full year before then, and she’d caught enough glimpses at the contents to tell they weren’t just the simple missing person cases he’d lamented focusing on back at the start. Even at the party earlier, she’d briefly overheard Korekiyo, Rantaro, and a rather weary-looking Kirumi debating what was going on before the maid quickly steered the conversation away to more amicable matters when she noticed the pianist’s approach. It almost felt like it was some ever-growing elephant in the room everyone was trying to ignore even as things were starting to become tighter and harder to push through. _

_ Her worries must have leaked through her expression as Shuichi’s expression shifted to one of concern. “Kaede…? Is something wrong?” _

_ Kaede blinked, quickly shaking her head and forcing a smile. “Hm? Oh, no! Just spaced out again. Everything’s great. Promise.” _

_ Shuichi studied her for a moment, the slight furrowing of his brow proving he saw through her instantly. “... Kaede… you don’t have to lie to me. To any of us. If something’s bothering you, please, tell me.” _

_ “I’m not lying. I really am alright!” She reasserted. As the moments ticked on and Shuichi’s concerned expression didn’t fade, however, she found her resolve crumbling more and more until it was gone completely, her false smile falling to a grimace. “It’s just… been a little scary lately, you know? I’m trying to not let it get to me, but…” _

_ A warm hand hesitantly took her own into a soft, reassuring hold. “It’s alright. You’re right; there’s reason to be worried. But, I think… no, I’m sure we’ll get through this. I can’t say for sure what might happen, but as long as we’re all together, it doesn’t matter how impossible it might seem. That’s the truth of it.” _

_ Kaede silently contemplated the words. There weren’t really any specifics to them, the more sentimental nature of the statement seeming out of place coming from the logically inclined detective. Yet, he spoke with absolute certainty as if the notion were an objective fact. She’d rarely ever seen him as confident in something as he seemed at that moment. Even if the logical part of her brain couldn’t help but be fixed on how vague it was, Kaede let herself focus on the part that found sanctuary in her dear friend’s assertion. A soft smirk pulled at her lips. “... You’re starting to sound like Kaito.” _

_ Shuichi gave a self-conscious ghost of a smile. “Ah… is that a good or bad thing here?” _

_ “A good thing,” Kaede smiled genuinely, gently slipping her hand free of his hold so she could pull him into a hug. He reciprocated once the initial surprise wore off, leaving the pair in a comforting half-embrace, their music long forgotten in favor of each other. In his arms, it felt so much easier to believe what she was about to say. “You’re right. As long as I’m with you, I know everything’s going to be-” _

***

**Thisshig rrrerrk wwoooow…!**

Once again, the sound of interference hissed in her mind, making the scene fall away in an indecipherable void of white as she heard the deafening roar of absolute nothingness forevermore-

***

_ “-fine. It’s fine. Everything’s _ ** _fine_ ** _ .” _

_ She couldn’t remember how long she’d been saying that now. She’d been repeating it over and over under her breath like scripture practically constantly whenever she was alone, something that was becoming more and more common as of late. Part of that was from just how many forms, surveys, waivers, and god knows what else the school was having the class representatives issue and collect, but another part of it was how hard it was to keep her mask up anymore. _

_ Things weren’t getting better. If anything, they were getting _ ** _so_ ** _ much worse as time went on. Everything that had been going wrong before seemed to be spiraling more and more. Tensions turned into riots turned into constant fighting between _ ** _that group_ ** _ , authorities, and anyone in between while actual wars were starting to be declared around the world. It’d gotten so dangerous that Hope’s Peak hadn’t let her or any of the other ultimates off the campus grounds in nearly a month now. It simply wasn’t a risk they could afford to take, not after... _

_ Kaede clenched her fists, accidentally scrunching the stack of papers in her hands. It was all _ ** _their_ ** _ fault. _ ** _That group_ ** _ -that damned _ ** _cult-_ ** _ had gone from a creepy few strangers saying weird things on TV to practically an army. _ ** _Thousands_ ** _ of people were working together to stoke the copious fires being lit everywhere, sometimes literally, but always to horrific results. She’d seen the pictures of what they’d done to people they caught in the streets, or the few subgroups daring enough to join the wars as terrorists. It’s not like she was even looking for it; they’d been more than happy to give examples right in front of the school. It was like they were taunting them, leaving a message for what they’d eventually do to- _

_ “Stop it. _ ** _Now_ ** _ . You can’t think like that, no matter what,” She hissed at herself, closing her eyes as she let out a long, shaky breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “... It’s just been a long day. Just… finish up here, get a bit of sleep, and maybe things won’t look so grim tomorrow.” _

_ Kaede wished she could believe that. _

_ All the same, she diligently went about finishing up her chores. Unprecedented time of crises or not, she was still the class rep, and someone had to handle that work. No matter how eager Kirumi and the others were to help out, this was her responsibility. If she couldn’t even do that much… _

_ She started heading back to the dorms as soon as she was done. She’d have loved to play piano for a little while before bed, but she’d given the music room a wide berth ever since the _ ** _incident_ ** _ . It drove her crazy not being able to do her favorite pastime and coping mechanism, but there was no way she could feel comfortable there alone after what happened to that poor girl. Even if she could, it was locked at night as a precaution, meaning there truly was nothing for her to do but wait for the sun. _

_ As she was about to turn the corner to the dorms, however, she faintly heard a pair of familiar voices. _

_ “... of course! I totally believe in you, little miss murderer!” A sickeningly falsely sweet voice chirped. The preemptive pangs of a headache pounded in her head as she placed a face to the sound. She was much too stressed as it was without Kokichi pulling his usual antics… _

_ “Shut up.” A harsher voice spat, Maki’s signature disconcerting monotone tinted with a biting anger that was frightening to hear from the often stoic woman. _

_ A familiar snide laugh escaped the Ultimate Supreme Leader. “What? I thought you guys wanted me to start telling the truth! Here I am trying to be helpful, and you’re being so… so mean! Waah!” _

_ Kaede picked up her pace, quickly heading to the source of the noise to try to intervene. She already knew how ugly things could get when Oma and Harukawa got into it under the best of circumstances, so she hoped to catch up to them before things could get too out of hand. Maki, for her part, seemed to be trying to end the confrontation in her own way. “I don’t care what you do. Just be an idiot somewhere else and leave me alone. Last warning.” _

_ “Hm? But I’m not the one being an idiot, am I, Maki Roll?” Kokichi questioned, a hint of knowing darkness bleeding into his teasing tone. _

_ “... Do you want to die?” Maki growled back. _

_ Oma hummed. “Not as much as Kaito, apparently. I might be a fearless leader of evil, but even I’m trembling in my boots when I think about what’s out there! Not like your moron of a boyfriend,” He mused as Kaede turned the corner and finally spotted the two. Kokichi was blocking the door to Maki’s dorm room, the brunette coldly glaring down at him as she slowly balled her fists. Just as she was about to speak up, Kokichi glanced over and caught sight of her for a moment before an ominous smirk came over him and he looked Maki dead in the eyes. “Why does he break the curfew so often, anyway? Is he trying to see whether the _ ** _cult_ ** _ or his sickness manages to kill him fir- _ ** _ach_ ** _ !” _

_ In the blink of an eye, Maki had gone from glaring at to outright _ ** _strangling_ ** _ Kokichi, her hand tightly wrapped around his throat as she harshly slammed him against the door at eye-level. “Shut _ ** _UP!_ ** _ ” She howled, baring her teeth ferociously. “He’s not going to die, and he’s not sick! Just shut up, you… you bastard!” _

_ “Woah! No! Maki, let go of him!” Kaede shouted, almost tripping herself as she bolted over to the hellbent babysitter. Maki ignored her entirely, her sole focus being watching Kokichi gasp in vain for air that couldn’t slip past her vice-grip. Acting on instinct, the blonde started tugging desperately at Maki’s arms to no avail. “Maki! What the hell are you doing?! You’re hurting him!” _

_ “That’s the point.” Harukawa hissed without so much as glancing at Kaede. If anything, her grip seemed to get even tighter. _

_ Akamatsu stared, gobsmacked by the casual cruelty, but just as quickly snapped back to her senses. “Y-you can’t mean that. Just let him go!” She pleaded, once again in vain. Kokichi was visibly beginning to pale, his smirk struggling to stay on his face as more and more seconds passed without oxygen. A burst of desperation shot up the pianist’s spine as the worst case scenario flashed through her mind, making her spit out something far crueler than she’d ever want to. “Maki, for the love of- aren’t there few enough of us left as it is?! If you do this, you might as well join the _ ** _Ultimate Hunt!_ ** _ ” _

_ The change in Maki’s expression was so small she almost didn’t notice it. A momentary widening of the eye; flashes of several emotions before finally settling on an icy bitterness. Without any fanfare, she tossed Kokichi to the side and opened her door, ignoring his hacking coughs and gasps for air. “Go to hell, Kaede.” _

_ Kaede grimaced, guilt pooling in her stomach as she realized all too late that she’d crossed a line. “Maki, I’m sorry. I-” _

_ “If any of us are likely to join them, it’s _ ** _him_ ** _ . Whatever he does from now on is on you.” Maki spat, going into her room and slamming the door without another word. Kaede stood in stunned silence, shamefaced, until a wheezing laugh rang out. _

_ “Hah… good pep talk, Kaede. I bet that perked her right up.” Oma quipped, smirking at her despite the pained wince still on his face. _

_ Kaede cringed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was just-” _

_ “Telling the truth? Geez… you get reactions like that, and you wonder why I like lying so much more!” Kokichi interrupted mockingly, resting his arms behind his head as if he hadn’t been suffocating half a minute prior. _

_ The blonde pursed her lips unhappily. “Could you please stop, Kokichi? I already get that I screwed up. Just…” She sighed, shaking her head and opting to change the subject. “Why were you two even fighting this time? You know Maki doesn’t find your jokes funny,” She pointed out, her eyes narrowing when she recalled what got Kokichi in a chokehold in the first place. “Especially when they’re as horrible as that last thing you said.” _

_ Oma frowned in a way she couldn’t determine was genuine or not. “Aw, but that’s the thing: I wasn’t joking. I was being totally, completely honest with her, but she didn’t want to hear it. She got mad all because I pointed out a truth that she didn’t want to hear.” _

_ “That being?” _

_ “That things aren’t going to get better, and everyone here knows it. Pretending we don’t is starting to break us all down.” _

_ The words knocked the air out of Kaede, who stared at him in shock and concern. “H-huh…? C-come on, Kokichi, don’t say things like that. I get things are pretty scary right now, but they’ll get better soon! We just have to stay smart and safe, and that means staying together-” _

_ “Is that what Kaito’s being when he sneaks off campus every day?” Kokichi challenged, his eyes narrowing doubtfully at her. “Yeah; it sure is _ ** _smart_ ** _ and _ ** _safe_ ** _ of him to march off to where a bunch of violent lunatics are waiting. He’s definitely thinking about the group when he tries picking fights with the Parade outside the gate. Urgh. I don’t think I’d even care that much if he didn’t do such a bad job of hiding it and you and everyone else weren’t blatantly ignoring it so much,” The short boy groused before the fangs really came out. “If he really thought things were going to get better, he wouldn’t keep taking pointless risks for it. If you really believed it, you wouldn’t let him do it. You and everyone else are lying to yourselves, but it's a lie you want to believe, so you’ll pretend it’s the truth no matter how much you know better. That’s how it goes with you people. God, the end of the world is way more boring to watch than it should be.” _

_ The Ultimate Pianist flinched at the harsh words, but held her ground. “Knock it off. Yes, Kaito’s wrong to do that, and I’ve told him as much. And yeah; things haven’t been improving… but that doesn’t mean they never will! And we’re not lying! We know for a fact things are going to pick up soon! We’ll make them if we have to. We’re Ultimates. As long as we believe and do our best, we can overcome anything!” _

_ Kokichi simply stared at her in silence, his face completely blank. “... Wow. That would be really inspiring if I thought you actually believed it,” He dismissed. She blinked in surprise and offense, but he cut her off. “I know liars like you know pianos, Kaede. You’re not saying that because you actually believe it. You’re saying it because you’re scared of what it means if it isn’t true.” _

_ Akamatsu didn’t respond. The cold, unsettling shiver coursing through her body at his allegation wouldn’t let her. That… that wasn’t true. Of course she believed in them! They were her friends! A-and of course she believed the world would get better. It _ ** _had_ ** _ to. Gathering up her nerve, she shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not a liar. I mean what I say, and I say-” _

_ Oma scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, come on, Kay-yay-day. You’re dumb, but not that dumb. I know it’s hard for you, but try to think for more than half a second,” He jeered before taking on a chillingly serious tone. “Me and Maki Roll don’t get along, but have you _ ** _ever_ ** _ seen her go that far before? Does that seem like something she’d normally do, even to someone she hated?” _

_ Kaede bit her lip. He was right about that much. Even at her worst, Maki limited herself to words. What she just saw… the blonde kept silent, prompting Kokichi to continue. “Or how about you? I don’t think you’d compare one of your _ ** _precious_ ** _ friends to a bunch of murderers if you were feeling good about things. Hell, here I am being totally honest, even when it’d be so much easier to spew some happy-go-lucky bullshit like you! I must really be off my game! Except that’s a lie, of course. I _ ** _love_ ** _ what’s going on, every little detail of it!” He added sarcastically, beaming at her despite the frustration in his body language. _

_ “Kokichi…” She sighed. _

_ He shrugged, face once again falling blank. “My point is, look around you, Kaede. You know as well as I do that these guys are cracking under the pressure. The only choices are to bend or break, and as long as you and everyone else keep up this act, the pressure’s just going to keep building until someone snaps. If you aren’t careful, it might be _ ** _you_ ** _ .” _

_ If she’d been unsettled before, she was downright frightened now. Not because of his words, as unsettling as they were, but because some part of her deep down inside _ ** _agreed_ ** _ with him. She’d push the thoughts away whenever she noticed them, but she’d already seen it in everyone. Tenko’s already short temper worsening, Himiko being even more drowsy than usual, Angie spending more time in prayer… things _ ** _were_ ** _ taking a toll on the class, but no one would admit it. They _ ** _couldn’t_ ** _ admit it. If they admitted they were having a hard time coping… that it was getting harder to feel hopeful... if _ ** _she_ ** _ admitted it… then surely that would be a slippery slope into feeling- _

_ Kaede shook her head. _ ** _No_ ** _ . She would _ ** _never_ ** _ do that, and neither would her friends. It wasn’t even worth considering. “... Kokichi, I appreciate the concern, but I promise we’re going to be fine. No matter what, I-” _

***

**THISSHIG-RRRERRK-THISSH!**

It was louder this time; harsher. Static hissed in her ears and slashed at her eyes like a sandstorm, trickles of pain slipping through the overpowering nothingness absorbing her reality in full-

***

_ “-’m perfect for a killing game. I don’t have any faith in humanity.” _

_ Her smile was almost as bright as the spotlights shining down on her, but it was hollow. She was only doing it because she knew it was what the judges were looking for. They always had someone with a bubbly disposition as part of the game, and that was easy enough to fake. They thought they were unpredictable, but they were anything but. People were easy to figure out and even easier to play once she was in their heads. All she had to do was earn someone’s trust, and a nice smile went a long way towards that. She couldn’t see the judges clearly, nothing but silhouettes compared to the blinding lights in front of them, but she knew it was something those bastards would love. A happy, doll faced girl that secretly turned out to be a heartless manipulator? There was no way they’d pass up on an opportunity like that. _

_ Her smile grew. She’d get into this killing game, and once she was, she could finally make this whole rotten world feel- _

***

**THISSHIGRRRERRKTHISSHTHISSHIGRRRERRKTHISSH!!**

The static was all-encompassing, screaming in her mind and tearing at her body as if she were being unraveled from the very core of her being. The pressure was so immense that some fleeting level of consciousness thought her head would cave in, the once-dull ache turning into complete and undeniable-

***

_ Agony. _

_ Everything _ ** _hurt_ ** _ . _

_ Her body ached with a pain she never could have imagined, but that was nothing compared to the torment in her mind. _

_ She failed. _

_ No, more than that. It would be one thing if she simply failed. Rare as it was, she’d experienced what it was like for things to not go as she’d wanted before. But this was the first -and soon to be last- time she ever truly _ ** _lost_ ** _ . _

** _He_ ** _ ruined everything. Ironic, given she’d written him off as nothing to be worried about. How could someone as pathetic and utterly boring as _ ** _him_ ** _ ever be a threat to her? Sure, he was fun to toy with; to raise up his hopes so that it would be all the sweeter when she dashed them into bits with the truth he’d fought so hard for, but that was supposed to be it. He would crumble, and his brief worth as entertainment would come to an end before doing him a favor by putting his miserable existence to an end. _

_ But that’s not what happened. _

_ Despite all the odds and all her careful planning, he’d managed to unravel everything. Years of planning, countless variables she’d perfectly accounted for, even the pain of killing the only people that ever mattered to her… all of it was for nothing because of him. That son of a bitch managed to stumble his way through the killing game, and even when faced with the _ ** _dark truth of his reality_ ** _ , he was so stubborn as to convince their friends to side with him and his stupid sentimentalism. He ruined _ ** _everything_ ** _ … _

_ … and she _ ** _loved_ ** _ him for it. _

_ This pain was even _ ** _better_ ** _ than if she’d won. She could hardly believe it was happening, and that’s what made it so special. She well and truly lost, and she was actually going to DIE for it… and that is the greatest gift he could ever have given her. The best and brightest, strongest, and toughest people in the world had failed to stop her, yet this geeky little loser she wrapped around her finger for the hell of it was the one to finally do her in… _

_ She was so, _ ** _so_ ** _ proud of him. _

_ She grinned like a mad woman, not caring that it only further tore open her split lips and cracked teeth from the volley earlier in the execution. If her good looks were completely tarnished by the time she died, then that was just another layer of delicious suffering to relish in. It was hard to see with her eyes watering from the pain and starting to swell shut, but after a few moments, she managed to find them. Her friends -at least, the people that had once been her friends- watched on with such wonderful reactions. The disgusted and almost pitying wince of _ ** _that delusional fool_ ** _ , the familiar but far more intense bite of _ ** _her cold and hateful glare_ ** _ \- oh, but what really shot a thrill up her spine was _ ** _him_ ** _ . _

_ More specifically, the absolute horror and pain in _ ** _his_ ** _ eyes that made her realize something. _

_ Even after all this, he still doesn’t want her to die. _

_ She laughed. It was hardly a wheeze with the state her body was in at this point, but she laughed as hard as she could even as the pain grew worse and worse. He was going to miss her, of all people! That was a riot! She was the reason his friends were dead! She ruined his life! She would kill him and take pleasure in every last second of it, but _ ** _this_ ** _ would hurt him?! She dedicated herself to tormenting him, and in the end, he wouldn’t even give her the honor of being hated? He… he still _ ** _cared_ ** _ about her? _

_ Ha! Ahahahaha! _ ** _AHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ **

_ Her vision swirled with manic, miserable delight. So _ ** _this_ ** _ is what is really felt like to experience _ ** _Ultimate Des-_ **

***

Nothingness. For an eternity, there was nothing. Reality had ceased to exist, if it had ever existed at all, lost to the all consuming void...

… and then she woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> -MrCynical and CSpratt


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